Hair Grows, People Change
by BlackLiquorice
Summary: Maki leaves Japan for college in America, cutting contact with µ's. Deciding that she's changed for good and ready to work hard as a surgeon for her parents just proves to be difficult when her eccentric friends want to do stupid things...like reform µ's. Slice of life with grown-up µ's, rated T for mild violence because Rin is always doing something mildly (?) dangerous.
1. Chapter 1

"Miss Maki! Please come down for dinner!"

"Okay!"

Maki closed her laptop and stood up. _What am I doing with my life..._

As Maki walked down the marble stairs of her mansion, she thought about her last conversation with the members of μ's 5 years ago.

 _"Maki? W-why?" Nico stared at Maki with wide eyes._

 _"I'm sorry you guys..."_

 _"Maki! Please don't leave...You're really important to us..."Umi begged._

 _"It's over now, Umi. Everyone is in different colleges, and we have already decided to disband three years ago. We're not A-RISE, we're not going to become an actual idol group. I'm going to college in America, and there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, we hardly get to see each other anyway."_

 _Maki turned to leave, but Eli grabbed her shoulder._

 _"Maki! Promise us that you will come back and-"_

 _"-have a coffee with us." Honoka finished. She looked at Maki with a pleading expression. "One day.."_

 _Maki walked away without looking back._

Maki, now a 25-year-old adult with a stoic expression, has changed in more ways than one. For one, she is not a tsundere. Tsundere doesn't work in college. Secondly, she has longer hair now. Because, you know. Hair grows. Also, she just graduated college. And she's back in Japan...

"Maki! There you are! We have baked tomatoes today. Your favorite!"

Maki smiled thinly. "Thanks, Mom."

"I have made arrangements for you to begin working at our hospital. You have already decided on being a surgeon, right?"

Maki nodded.

"Perfect, because we are short of one surgeon, you know after Anesse retired. I don't want you starting with the difficult operations, so I'm appointing you under Miss Marsida."

Maki's lip curled. Marsida was an unreasonably superstitious woman. "Yes."

"Alright, just start showing up to work next week. I don't believe you have explored Akihabara yet? It has changed a lot."

"That would not be necessar-"

"You need clothes."

Maki lowered her head. She has lost. "Yes, mother."

* * *

Maki walked into a shop along the busy streets of Akihabara. _If I see one of them..._

She had an errand to run, and Tokyo was the second biggest city in the world. There's virtually no way that she would run into the members of μ's.

...Right?

Maki swore she saw long purple hair and stopped dead in her tracks. The woman had her back to Maki and was browsing through some jeans. Maki watched in horror as the woman took a pair of jeans off the rack and slowly turned to go the fitting room.

"Maki!?"

Maki took off running.

* * *

 **My spellcheck doesn't recognize Maki as a word, and now there are red underlines all over my story.**

 **Edit: I just fixed a typo**


	2. Chapter 2

"Maki!"

Maki heard the sound of Nozomi throwing the jeans onto the floor, chasing after her. Without thinking, Maki ran into the nearest crowd. _Why do I have the worst luck today?_

Maki ran until she was sure that her both of her legs were numb, and only then did she stop. Panting, she walked into a busy mall and into the bathroom

Maki stepped into a stall and locked the door. _Wait, why did I come here? Nozomi can corner me!_ As if on cue, Maki heard somebody entering the bathroom. The woman seemed to be in a phone conversation.

"What...I don't believe you."

There was a short pause, in which Maki buried her face in her palms. The person's voice was familiar enough.

"Seriously? Maki's actually back?"

Another pause.

"You...you lost her in the crowd? Nevermind, we need to tell everyone to look for her!"

Maki heard the sound of a stall door opening and closing and sighed in relief. She unlocked her stall door and quickly exited the bathroom.

 _Nozomi, and then Eli? Why do I have **such bad luck** today? And now everyone will know that I'm back..._

Maki walked briskly with no clear destination in mind. _Maybe I should buy new clothes and change so that Nozomi won't find me easily._ Maki spotted a clothing shop nearby and entered. The shop's name was "Pastel Daffodils" and the clothing was mostly themed around cutesy pastel clothing. Not exactly Maki's style, but she didn't have a choice did she?

Hastily, Maki grabbed a white hoodie, a simple pink dress, and a purple scarf. She changed, paid, and left immediately, pulling the hood of her hoodie up to cover her hair, her old clothes in a shopping bag.

Maki walked as fast as she can to a train station, and took the fastest train back home.

* * *

"Maki? How did it go?"

Maki walked into the kitchen, where her mother was reading a book, a mug of earl grey tea beside her. "Are those new clothes?"

Maki nodded.

"Nice, but it doesn't really seem like your style."

Maki glanced to the floor. "I felt like a style change, that's all."

"Alright."

"I'm going to bed."

Maki walked up the steps of her stairs and opened the door into her bedroom. "Wow, it looks exactly the same."

Maki turned on the water in her bathtub and dropped in a rose scented bath bomb. She relished in the scent, and carefully slid into the water.

Today has been a rather...eventful day. Maki landed in Japan, moved back into her home, and somehow, managed to alert all of her friends that she was back. Poor Maki. She must be traumatized.

Or is she?

Maki sat in the bathtub for what seemed like hours. _I bet everyone knows by now..._

She buried her face in her palms and did not get out of the water until her fingers were wrinkled. "Great, I must have aged of stress." Maki stood up and wrapped a warm towel around herself. She drained the water and put on her pajamas.

The night light was turned off, and Maki drifted into a restless sleep...


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't as if Maki didn't miss her friends.

Maki did, but considering the fact that she sorta left like a jerk and cut off contact with her friends, they would probably give her a 100+ hour long lecture about friendship, love and cute shoujo things.

Just because.

Besides, Maki isn't a jerk. She's a tsundere (formerly). Maki only left like that because she didn't want to make the parting overly long and dramatic. She also didn't answer her friend's letters and emails because she didn't want to be homesick. And being a medical student was not easy.

Maki curled up in her bed and sighed. _I should just face them and get it over with._

Maki got off her bed and started her usual morning routine. Shower, brush teeth, change, the usual things. Maki put on a white shirt, a brown sweater, and a long pair of jeans. She put her hair into a long ponytail and took a deep breath. "This is it."

Maki picked up her phone and dialed Honoka's number.

"Hello?"

 _Didn't she have my number-oh right I changed it._ "Hello?"

"Um, who is this?"

Maki took a long deep breath. "It's Maki."

"WHAT? KOTORI! IT'S MAKI!" Maki gritted her teeth. "WHAT DID YOU SAY? THERE ARE MANY MAKIS IN JAPAN? Oh yeah. Excuse me, is your last name Nishikino?"

"Yes."

"KOTORI! IT'S OUR MAKI!" Maki heard screams and the sound of crashing. "Yes, it's Maki! Here, speak to her!" There was shuffling and the phone seemed to be passed to another person.

"Maki?"

"Hello, Kotori."

"Maki! I miss you so much! Nozomi said she saw you yesterday! Why didn't you answer our emails?"

"Uh..."

"Actually, nevermind! You can tell us later. Let's meet up somewhere!"

"Okay."

"How about the cafe near my shop?"

"What shop?"

"I'm working as a fashion designer, I have my own clothing line now."

"That's nice, what's the name?

"Pastel Daffodils."

Maki widened her eyes. _I shopped there yesterday..._ "Oh, I see."

"It's close to the shrine we used to go to a lot."

"Thanks, I'll be there in 30 minutes."

"Ok! I miss you so much! Oh, and I'll our other friends to come too."

"Okay."

"Bye!"

Kotori hung up, and Maki lowered the arm holding the phone. "Well, I guess that wasn't so bad..."

* * *

Maki arrived at the cafe, to find that nobody was there yet. She sighed and took a seat at a table that seated 6 people. _Well, I'm sure that not all of our friends will come..._

"Maki!" Honoka rushed to Maki's table, Kotori, Hanayo, and Rin right behind her.

"You came!" Rin exclaimed.

Maki smiled thinly. "Of course."

Honoka pounced on Maki and pulled her into a tight squeeze. "Geez, we missed you so much! Why didn't you answer our emails and letters?"

Maki smiled apologetically. "I was really busy..."

Kotori gave Maki a big hug after Honoka, and then Rin, and then Hanayo.

Kotori sat down on the chair opposite Maki. "We were really worried! Umi thought that you got murdered in your dorm!"

Maki cringed inwardly. "Oh... I see."

Hanayo nodded. "I was so scared until Maki's mom told us you were alive and well."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "My mother?"

"We've been in contact with her ever since you left," Honoka stated.

"I see."

Once everyone was seated, a waitress came by. "May I get your orders?"

"Yes! I want a caramel milkshake! Extra large please!" Rin cried.

"I would like a small green tea latte," Hanayo said shyly.

The waitress wrote down the orders and looked at Maki, Kotori, and Honoka. "And...would you like anything?"

"I'll have a small latte," Kotori told her.

"Same as her," Honoka said.

Maki sighed. "I'll have a medium cappuccino."

The waitress finished writing her orders and nodded. "Your orders will be ready soon!"

* * *

Everyone had a nice chat, and Maki learned about the occupations of her former peers. Honoka was working in her family shop, Rin and Hanayo had a restaurant together, Kotori was a fashion designer. She also learned that Eli, Nozomi, and Umi were business women. However, when the subject of Nico's job came up, there was no answer, except for a youtube link the Honoka sent to Maki's phone.

"You'll see," she had said.

Maki, now safely at in her bedroom, opened the youtube link.

...Only to find Nico cutesy dancing to a girly song. Her youtube channel had over 3 million subscribers and had over 80 million views. "Thanks for watching Nico Nico Nii today!"

"WHAT THE HECK NICO?"

* * *

 **I tried making this chapter a little longer. Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

Maki put on a formal black jacket over her white blouse. "There."

She looked at herself in the mirror once more and made sure that she looked presentable. Black pants, blouse, jacket.

Maki sure hoped she looked professional.

"Maki! Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes!"

Maki grabbed her purse and went downstairs.

"Perfect! Let's go!" Maki's mother called, once Maki came into her view.

As the car sped farther and farther from her house, Maki's heart beat faster and faster. Today she was going to the Nishikino Hospital for a visit, before actually going to work there in 5 days. She was also going to meet Miss Marsida for the first time in 8 years.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Miss Marsida."

Marsida stepped closer to Maki. "My goodness! Your hair is still that horrible colour! Miss Nishikino, please make your daughter dye her hair a different colour."

Maki's mother smiled apologetically. "That is up to her..."

"But it's bad luck!"

Maki grimaced. Marsida had always been extremely superstitious. Apparently, her hair's colour was bad luck. "Miss Marsida, would you please show me around the hospital?"

"Alright. Follow me, please."

Marsida turned around and started walking toward the first set of rooms. Maki looked to her mother, who nodded before heading to her office. Maki followed Marsida.

* * *

"And that concludes our tour. Oh, hello, So Hyun! Maki, this is one of our newer doctors, So Hyun. She's from Korea."

"Hello, So Hyun," Maki greeted politely.

"Hello," So Hyun answered.

"Alright, let's go now. I need to show you the restaurants area we have."

Maki smiled lightly at So Hyun, who nodded and hurried off.

The Nishikino Hospital was a highly luxurious hospital and had an entire section reserved for restaurants, cafes, and shops. The area was an understatement. It was like a mini mall. Now, Maki had been to her family's hospital on multiple occasions, but she had never been here as a doctor.

"Miss Maki, we will part ways here. It was a pleasure to meet you again. I will see you in 5 days. And dye your hair already!" Marsida started walking away.

Maki nodded while cringing slightly.

Maki's phone vibrated from under her jacket, and she took it out. Honoka was written in big bold letters on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Maki! Uh, are you busy right now?"

"Not exactly..."

"Perfect! Eli, Nozomi, and Umi are free! They really want to see you! Oh, and Nico as well. Actually, they are at your hospital right now!"

Maki frowned. _How did they know that I was at my hospital?_ "Oh...that's nice. I'm already here."

"I know!"

"How did you know?"

"Uh, well that's not important! They are in a cafe called Modern Pasties and more! Bye!"

Honoka hung up.

Maki frowned again but started looking for the cafe. After a few minutes of exploring, Maki stood in front of the cafe and went inside.

Instantly, she saw her friends.

Well, it wasn't so hard. Mainly because Nico was wearing a glittery neon unicorn costume.


	5. Chapter 5

Maki tried not to gawk at the unicorn costume as she took a seat next to Umi (who was intently staring at her shoes). "Um, hello."

Umi smiled awkwardly. "Hi."

"So, how are you?" Eli asked.

"I'm doing great."

Everyone looked to the floor and tried not stare at Nico, who remained oblivious.

...

"What?" Nico looked very confused.

Maki stifled a laugh and bit her lip. "Well, um, why are you wearing that?"

Nico looked offended. "It was a dare from one of my subscribers! What, we see you for the first time in like, 7 years, and you just had to be extremely rude to me. Geez, Maki, you never change."

Maki crossed her arms. "What about you? What do you do for a living? Dance in cutesy outfits? Playing real life. You're worse than me!"

Nico frowned. "So you're better than me because you are a _doctor_? Well, guess what, I have news for you, because according to the internet, surgeons are called Mister or Miss. NOT doctor. So you're not even a real doctor."

Maki narrowed her eyes. "How did you even know that I was going to be a surgeon?"

Nico lowered her gaze and fidgeted. "Well, wasn't it obvious?"

"I don't believe I ever told any of you guys."

Umi, Eli and Nozomi, who had been watching the exchange silently started to show signs of panic.

"Now, now, we're all together now, so we may as get along," Eli spoke up nervously.

"Yes, yes," Umi agreed, not meeting Maki's eyes.

"You guys are terrible at lying. Just tell me whatever it is that you're hiding." Maki leaned back into her chair and looked at her friends expectantly. "Well?"

Nozomi smirked and held up a random tarot card. "This is the card for honesty. Now, I suppose we have to tell her. Eli, do it."

Eli looked uneasy. "Um, I don't there's a way of telling you without making you mad, but well... Honoka put a GPS tracking chip into your phone."

Maki's jaw dropped. "W-when?"

Umi bit her lip. "In the cafe a few days ago."

Maki glared at Nico. "And how did you know that I was a surgeon?"

Nico shivered slightly. "Uh...er, your mother told us."

Maki shook her head. "Well, it does seem like something she would do..."

Everyone at the table braced themselves, waiting for Maki to explode in anger, passion, and tsundere.

Maki took a deep breath and did something nobody had expected.

That is... taking out her phone and opening the cover. And then taking out the tracking chip and dumping into Nico's orange juice.

"MAKI! WHAT THE HECK?"

Maki twirled her hair around her finger. "Now tell me what you guys have been up to."

* * *

Everyone chatted over a few drinks and snacks. As it turns out, Eli, Umi, and Nozomi were working in the same company and were doing very well in terms of money. On the other hand, Nico was not making as much money as the others, but she was happy and satisfied with her job. Which was great, until she tried to get Maki to go to her house to film a video together.

"Nico, cease this at once."

"But Maaakiiii! I want you to do the roast yourself challenge with meee!"

"No."

"Come onnnnn! Everyone else had to leave, and you're free! Besides, it's really fun!"

"Unlike you, I don't have fun by embarrassing myself in front of millions."

It just so happened that at this moment, Maki's mother walked by. "Oh! Maki! There you are! I was looking for you."

"Mom, let's go ho-"

"Miss Nishikino, can I bring Maki home for a sleepover?"

Maki gave Nico a dirty look. "Mom, don't listen to h-"

"What a wonderful idea! Maki, this is a great opportunity to catch up with your friends."

"Mom, no." Maki tried to walk away from Nico, but Nico grabbed her shoulder and began to drag Maki away.

"Bye!" Nico called over her shoulder to Maki's mother.

* * *

"Heeeey guys! It's Nico Nico Nii, and today I'm with my _dear_ friend Maki, and today we are going to do the roast yourself challenge! Now, Maki please introduce yourself in front of the camera."

"No," came Maki's reply 5 meters away.

Nico gritted her teeth and attempted to drag Maki in the camera's view. Maki held onto a table's leg but ended up dragging it with her. "Nico, stop."

"No." Nico smiled when she finally got Maki in front of the camera. Nico held on to Maki with both of her arms. "Now, introduce yourself."

Maki covered her face with both of the hands. "NO."

Nico pried Maki's arms off her face. "Now, _introduce yourself_."

Maki looked at the camera with a deadpanned expression. "Hello, my name is Maki."

"Marvelous! We are going to begin now. I'm beautiful, cute, and smart. Maki is ugly, stupid, and mean-"

"Hey! You're the one making stupid videos for a living!"

"Well, you think you're so cool for being a surgeon! You haven't even started working yet!"

"Because I was getting my master's degree!"

"So what? You're not famous like me!"

"Just because you're famous does not mean you're better than me."

The insults went on and on, and, well, it was more of a roast each other video rather than a roast yourself video.

However, it did get 7 million views.


	6. Chapter 6

"Maki, look at all these comments!"

Maki buried her face in her palms deeper. "Please don't remind me that that actually happened."

Nico scanned the screen of her laptop. "Maki is so cute! Does she have a youtube channel?"

Maki lifted her face from her palms and peered at Nico's computer screen. "Wait, what?"

Nico continued reading. "Maki is so much cuter tha- HEY WHAT THE HECK?"

Maki crawled to Nico's side and read the comments. "Wow.."

Nico crossed her arms. "Great, now you're more popular than ME on MY youtube channel. No fair!"

Maki's mouth was wide open when she read all of the comments praising her. "Maki is a cute tsundere... I haven't heard this kind of praise since our school idol days..."

Nico smiled. "That's why I chose this job. I never wanted our school idol days to end, but I also needed a job. This was the closest thing I could think of. It's not like I could join an idol group that's not μ's ."

Maki stared at Nico in awe. _Is this really Nico?_ Maki studied Nico further and saw changes she had not seen before. Nico's face was less chubby, her hair was smooth and fine, she was taller, but she was still quite petite.

Nico put her hands on her hips with a sour look on her face. "What?"

Maki snapped out of her trance. "Nothing, really. But I just noticed.. did you lose some weight?"

"Yes, I did! I lost 5 kilos!"

Maki frowned. "That doesn't sound very healthy..."

Nico pouted. "But I wanted to be healthier!"

"You know, I think you were fine as you were before I left."

"Well there's always room for improvement, right?"

Maki opened her mouth to protest, but Nico cut her off.

"Besides, my diet is over. Let's go make something to eat!" Nico jumped up and bounced out of the room.

Maki sighed, took off her jacket and followed her.

* * *

Nico's apartment was not as luxurious as what Maki was used to, however, it was big enough for one person living alone and was cozy.

Unfortunately, Nico's fridge was almost empty.

"Nico, have you been living on take-out food ever since you lived alone?"

"No no no! I cook, I swear! Um, it's just that I haven't really been shopping for groceries recently..."

Maki sighed, ever since she came back home in May, she hasn't been cooking for herself at all. "Well, I guess we could try to make dinner with what you have."

Nico had a carrot, some whipping cream, and some shrimp. She also had a random container of pasta in her cupboard.

Maki took out everything and set it on the counter. "Let's make pasta."

Nico nodded and took out a frying pan. "Okay."

Maki took out a pot and filled it with water. She placed it on the stove and turned up the heat. "Hey, Nico?"

"Hm?" Nico added some oil to the pan and cooked the shrimp. "What is it?"

"When I left for America, did you finish your bachelor's degree?"

Nico grimaced. "I did, but my GPA was a like 3.0, while Eli was the valedictorian and got 4.0. Geez, how she did it, I have no idea.."

Maki pressed her lips together while slicing the carrot. To be honest, she also finished with a 4.0 average, but she was so disconnected from the rest of the world, she almost wished she could relive everything and try to have a social life. "At least you had a social life."

Nico poured cream into her pan and mixed everything with a spatula. "To be honest, I started my youtube channel right after you left. And at first, I wasn't that popular. I even got a ton of hate. But then, of course, anyone who criticizes me is clearly mistaken!"

Nico turned to Maki, who was dropping the pasta into the boiling water. "Can I have the carrots?"

Maki handed Nico the cutting board and Nico scraped the chopped up carrots into the sauce. She gave everything a good stir and continued, "I started going on a diet for my own personal health, and a lot of viewers thought I was being insecure. And, well, my grades started to drop when I got busier with youtube."

Maki nodded. "Sounds pretty tough."

Nico flipped her hair. "Well, nothing I couldn't handle, of course! Eventually, I gained a lot of popularity, and now here I am!"

Maki sat down on a chair. "You are exactly the same."

"So, we've talked a lot about me now. How about you, Miss I'm-too-good-to-answer-our-emails?"

"Nothing happened, really. I just studied constantly and graduated with good grades."

"What about friends?"

Maki blushed slightly. "Uh... I didn't really have many friends..."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, I think the pasta's cooked. Let's add it to the sauce."

Maki added the pasta to the sauce and Nico stirred gently. "Well, I guess we're done. Let's eat!"

The pasta came out beautifully, and after Nico took 20 pictures, they started eating.

* * *

That night, Maki slept on the couch. It was uncomfortable, but Maki persevered. Anything to spend time with your friends, right?

...Right?

"Maki, can you make more videos with me tomorrow?"

"NO."


	7. Chapter 7

Maki slipped on the green mask and entered the operation room.

"Nishikino, get the anesthesia."

Maki handed Marsida the syringe.

So Hyun walked into the room.

"You're late, Hyun. Get the mask on so that we can begin the surgery."

Maki gritted her teeth. _Why did Marsida make my first surgery a spine surgery? This is far too advanced for a new surgeon..._

* * *

Maki sighed and grabbed her purse.

"Good work today everyone. Hyun, make sure to come on time tomorrow," Marsida said.

So Hyun nodded and smiled at Maki before leaving the small lounge that surgeons share. Maki followed and closed the door behind her.

"Nice job on your first surgery. You work really well." So Hyun smiled.

"Thanks."

"Did you study abroad?"

"Yes."

The two women walked down the hall and into the elevator.

"Nishikino, how old are you again?"

Maki pressed G on the elevator. "I'm 25."

"You're pretty young. Most of our surgeons are around 30. I'm 27, though."

So Hyun leaned back into the wall of the elevator.

The doors opened to the ground floor and Maki stepped off the elevator. "Bye."

"Bye."

Maki walked to the entrance of the hospital and waited until her driver drove over. Stepping into the car, Maki heard her phone ring. "Take me home," she said to her driver before answering her phone.

"Hello?"

"Maki! We need you to come over to Eli's apartment quick! I already texted you the address!" Maki winced at Honoka's loud voice.

"Why?"

"It's June 9th!"

"So?"

"It's Nozomi's birthday, silly! We're throwing her a party tonight!"

Maki sighed. "I'll be there in an hour."

Maki ended the call. "Mr. Takeshi, please go to this address instead.""

* * *

Maki! Perfect timing, we need to...Maki, please change immediately." Eli frowned at Maki's clothes.

"Why?"

"You're wearing formal attire while everyone else is in party attire!"

"They are?" Maki peered behind Eli's shoulder, only to see nobody in sight. "Where is everyone?"

Eli pushed Maki back lightly. "They're changing! You should, as well. Here, follow me."

Eli briskly walked into a large room decorated with party decor. "That's the bathroom. Change into this."

Maki was shoved into the bathroom with a dress thrown at her. "What the-Eli! That hurt!"

"Just change!"

Maki studied the dress closely. It was a long strapless red dress with an open back. Sighing, Maki changed.

* * *

"Maki! Are you done? Everyone else is ready!" Eli's voice was slightly impatient.

Maki opened the door. "This dress is actually pretty nice. Where did you get it?"

"I brought it from my store!" Kotori stepped into view wearing a knee length green dress. "Do you like it?"

"I thought your store only sold cute pastel clothing...?"

"I'm planning to release some classy clothing soon!"

Suddenly, Honoka burst into the room, with Rin, Hanayo and Umi following.

"Guys! Nico is on the way! By the way, Kotori, these dresses are AMAZING!"

"Thanks!"

Hanayo walked to a table full of food. "I also brought some of my restaurant dishes. I hope you guys like it!"

Umi sat down on the couch. "I texted Nozomi telling her to come to this place at 6. It's currently 5, so we should have plenty of time to add some finishing touches to the decorations. We should also finish dressing and do our hair and such."

Eli spoke up, "Kotori and I should do everyone's hair since we are the best at it. Rin, I'll start with you. Come with me upstairs."

Kotori smiled slightly. "Um, I guess I'll do your hair, Honoka?"

Honoka nodded. "Sure!"

Maki took a seat next to Umi on the couch. "Is it really necessary to dress up? I mean, it's only us, right?"

Umi pressed her lips together. "Well, Nico likes to vlog our parties and upload them on the internet, so everyone wants to look their best."

Maki gritted her teeth. "I see. I guess it's not just us, then."

Maki watched Kotori brush Honoka's hair gently, before spraying it with something and curling her hair slowly. Once Honoka's hair was wavy, Kotori clipped Honoka's bangs to one side with a white barrette. "Done! Umi, you're next!"

Umi smiled to Maki and walked to Kotori. "Please don't make me look ridiculous."

Kotori winced. "I'll try my best."

Maki watched Kotori slowly brush Umi's long dark hair. Brushing each lock of hair, slowly, slowly...

Before Maki knew it, she was asleep.

* * *

"Maki! Hello? Maki!"

Maki woke up to Rin's enthusiastic yelling.

"Huh? Rin?"

Rin grinned. "Eli told me to get you. It's your turn! Go upstairs, Maki!"

Maki nodded. "Okay..."

Drowsily, Maki climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"Maki! Hurry up!"

Maki stepped onto the second floor. "I'm here."

"Good. Now sit."

Maki sat down on a stool and Eli started to brush her hair.

"Maki your hair got a lot longer. Haven't you gotten any trims?"

"No. I didn't have time."

Eli sprayed Maki's hair with...something and started to straighten Maki's slightly wavy hair. "Well, your hair is still as nice as ever. Although now that I think about it, I think you're the only person in our group of friends that grew out your hair. Aside from Nico, that is."

Maki frowned. "Wait, so did everyone else get regular trims?"

"Yes."

Eli finished straightening Maki's hair and started to tie up Maki's hair into a high ponytail. "How was America?"

"It was nice. The people were nice too, but I got sick of hamburgers the first week. After that, my mother got me out of the dorms to stay with one of our cousins living nearby."

"Hamburgers, huh? Is that all they have there?"

"No, they had all sorts of food in the cafeteria."

Eli stayed silent and tied Maki's hair. "We're finished, but don't go yet. I think you could use some makeup."

"No thanks." Maki stood up, but Eli grabbed her wrist.

"When was the last you put on any makeup other than lip balm?"

"Maybe a few years."

Eli nodded and pushed Maki back into the stool. "Come on, treat yourself for once. I won't do anything drastic, I promise."

"Fine."

Eli grabbed some powder but then put it back down. "Your skin is already flawless, I don't think you'll need powder, nor will you need blush, because I'm sure that Nico will embarrass you enough today."

Maki frowned. "What?"

"Uh, ignore that. I think you would look good with some eyeshadow. Close your eyes."

Maki did as she was told and Eli put some mystery colored eyeshadow on her.

"Open your eyes. Hm, this would go perfectly with some eyeliner..."

* * *

"Eli! You broke our promise!"

Maki glared at her reflection in the mirror. Maki was wearing pink lipstick with brown eyeshadow, and of course, winged eyeshadow. " I look like a clown. And Nico's gonna be vlogging this too, so the entire world will laugh at me. This is ridiculous, what if the people at my hospital see this?"

"Maki, you look gorgeous! Now, go downstairs."

"What about you?"

"I need to change." Eli walked into her bedroom and closed the door.

Maki sighed and walked downstairs.

"Maki! You look amazing!" Honoka squealed.

Nico, who was eating a bag of chips nodded her approval. "Not bad, but you still don't look as good as me."

Maki sat down next to Nico and checked the time on her phone. "We have 10 minutes. What do you guys want to do?"

Kotori walked over. "I just finished doing Hanayo's hair, but Nico still needs to be dressed. Come with me, Nico."

Nico followed Kotori.

"Maki, can you help me prepare the cake?" Hanayo asked shyly.

"Sure."

Maki walked into the kitchen with Hanayo, and they took the cake out of the fridge. "Wow, this cake looks good."

Hanayo smiled. "Rin and I baked this at our restaurant. We just need to light the candles." Hanayo grabbed the lighter on the kitchen counter and lit one of the candles.

Hanayo used the lit candle to light the other candles while Maki watched awkwardly. "Um, I'll carry the cake to the table."

Maki carried the cake to the table and Hanayo followed.

"GUYS! SHE'S HERE!" Honoka exclaimed.

Nico came out of the bathroom wearing a pink dress. "VLOG TIME!"

Kotori followed Nico out of the bathroom. "Where is Eli?"

Eli came downstairs at that moment (looking exactly like a model to be exact). "I'm here!"

The front door opened.

"SURPRISE!" everyone except Maki yelled.

Nozomi gasped. "Guys!"

"You're finally 27!" Eli gave Nozomi a big hug, followed by Nico, and then Honoka, and then everyone.

"Guys, my dear friend Nozomi is finally 27! This is such an emotional day for me!" Nico said to her camera.

"Happy birthday Nozomi..." Maki said hesitantly.

"Maki! I didn't think you would be here!" Nozomi hugged Maki. "Thank you for coming! Oh, and did you grow even more? Hehehehehe..."

Maki paled.

* * *

The party continued, and everyone had a great time. Honoka ended up bringing in alcohol into the party before the sun set, and half of the girls were passed out before it was even 8pm.

Maki, however, did not drink a drop of alcohol.

Which meant that she had to deal with a drunk Nico, Umi and Rin.

"Hey, Maakki! Let's go swimming in the internet! YAAAAHHH!" Nico started doing swimming motions on the floor,

"NONONO! Nico, let's go fishing in the sky! HEYHEYHEY!" Rin bounced off the sofa.

"Guuys! Become more resspoonsible! We have to be matuuur-" Umi passed out on Maki's lap.

Maki, who was watching the scene unfold with a deadpann expression, stood up. "Eli, I'm going home. Bye."

Eli, who was not drunk, nodded. "Understandable. Be careful on the way home."

"It's okay, I have a driver."

Maki left the party without looking back.

* * *

 **I'm sorry for the late update, but I tried to make this chapter extra long.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed!**


	8. Chapter 8

Maki sighed as she heard her phone ring for the 7th time that day. After taking another sip of a cup of hot chocolate, Maki quickly pressed the red button on her phone, ignoring the call.

The cafe Maki was sitting in was almost empty, and the waiters were getting ready to close. As the lights dimmed one by one, Maki stood up and walked out of the shop. _Why won't Nico stop bothering me..._

It has almost been a month since Maki started working, and Marsida was getting more and more intolerable each day. Maki's mother had promised that Maki would stop working under Marsida once Maki got her first paycheck, but that was 3 entire days away. And Nico's constant bothering did nothing to help.

"Nishikino? You're still here?"

Maki looked at So Hyun, who was stepping off the elevator. "I was in the cafe."

"It's already midnight, your shift ended 2 hours ago."

"I know."

"Why are you still here?"

Maki sighed. "I'm on call right now, but Marsida wouldn't allow me to leave until midnight. She said something about accidents happening more in the middle of the night..."

So Hyun frowned. "Must be tough, working under her. Wanna get some ice cream?"

"I already ate."

"Come on, that was probably hours ago. I know this great ice cream place just down the street."

"I'll tell my driver to pick me up there."

* * *

"Welcome to Rosey Icey Treats! How many people-"

"2." So Hyun smiled at Maki.

Maki and So Hyun sat down on a table for two, and the waitress put two pastel coloured menus on the table.

Maki looked at the menu. There seemed to be at least 20 different flavors including rose, lavender, and daffodils. "Rose flavored ice cream?"

The waitress smiled. "It's our bestseller! The ice cream is infused with rose extract, and makes an exquisite taste! Would you like to try?"

So Hyun winked at Maki. "Go on, try it!"

Maki nodded hesitantly. "I'll have one scoop of that in a bowl."

So Hyun smiled at the waitress. "I'll have my usual."

The waitress nodded and walked away, and Maki's phone rang again. Sighing, Maki ignored the call.

"Who's calling you?"

"My friend."

"Why aren't you answering?"

"She's been bothering me for the entire day about some sort of vacation plan. It's ridiculous, really."

So Hyun frowned. "You should answer her. You worked harder than everyone this past month. Don't you deserve a vacation?"

Maki sighed and answered Nico's call. "Hi, Nico."

"MAKI! Why didn't you answer me?"

"Um..."

"Actually, nevermind! You need to start packing your bags immediately for the trip this next week."

"I never agreed on going to this trip of yours."

"Too bad, because your mom already agreed to let us stay at your vacation home! We leave on Monday and we come back on Tuesday of the next week! Make sure to pack lots of cute outfits, I'll be vlogging everything!"

Maki bit her lip. _Today is Friday, and I get my pay on Sunday._ "Excuse me?"

"Bye!"

Nico hung up, and Maki stared at her phone with a dumbfounded expression.

"You look confused. What happened?"

"I think my mom just forced me into going on a vacation."

So Hyun chuckled. "Never knew that Miss Nishikino was such a funny person."

Maki crossed her arms. "This is ridiculous. I haven't even gotten my first paycheck yet. Why would I need to go on a vacation 1 month into work?"

"Well, you'd be grateful for it soon enough."

The waitress walked over, bringing with her a bowl with a scoop of pink ice cream, along with a big bowl filled with 5 scoops of multicolored ice cream topped with whipped cream and strawberries. "Here's one scoop of rose flavour along with Miss Hyun's usual." The waitress winked at So Hyun and walked away.

"Do you know the waitress?"

"I'm a regular customer. All the staff members know me."

So Hyun smiled and started to devour her order with a fiery passion.

Maki hesitantly took a bite of her ice cream.

...

It was as if Maki had entered the world full of rose petals. The sweet ice cream combined with a hint of rose slowly dissipated on Maki's tongue leaving her wanting for more.

Maki started to devour her order full of rose petals as well.

* * *

So Hyun stretched her arms. "Well, that was delicious. I need to go home now, see you later Nishikino."

"Bye."

Maki stepped into her waiting car and dialed her mother's number.

"Hello?"

"Mom, we need to talk."

"What is it?"

"Did you actually agree to let my friends plan a trip to our vacation house?"

"...Yes."

"How could you? You know that everyone is going to get drunk and burn down our house, right?"

"That's why you're going! To keep them in check!"

"Mom, I'm a surgeon, not a zookeeper! I can't do that!"

"Well, I'm sure that you can manage. Come home soon so that you can start packing."

Maki hung up. "Mr. Takeshi please take me home."

* * *

Maki sat down on the floor in front her purple suitcase, untouched since she came back from America. "Now what?"

Maki decided that she would rather sleep than waste time picking outfits carefully, so she just stuffed the suitcase with a bunch of shorts and t-shirts. After putting in some swimsuits and towels, Maki went to bed.

 _This is ridiculous._

* * *

 **My spellcheck marked flavour as a wrong word, and I am so offended.**


	9. Chapter 9

Maki stepped into her vacation home. "Well, here it is."

The girls gaped at the size of Maki's vacation house.

"Is it just me, or does it look even bigger?" Eli asked.

"We had a renovation recently." Maki slid her suitcase to the base of the stairs. "Put your suitcases here and follow me upstairs to the rooms."

Everyone did as Maki ordered.

Maki led everyone down a hallway with rooms on each side of the wall. "Just pick any room you want. There are only 6 guest rooms so 4 of you guys need to pair up. Everyone else with sleep alone. I will be in my room in the other hallway."

Nozomi smirked at Eli. "Eli, wanna sleep with me?"

Eli blushed slightly. "That sounded really wrong but sure."

Rin pounced on Hanayo. "Kayo-chin! Let's be roommates!"

"Sure!"

Honoka nodded to thin air. "Now everyone else will sleep alone! Maki, what about our bags?"

Maki started walking towards that stairs. "I'll get some butlers to carry them up."

Nico grabbed Maki's shoulders. "Hold up."

Maki rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

"I need to see your bedroom."

"What? No!"

"I need to! If it's bigger than my room, I'm trading bedrooms with you!"

"Of course it's bigger! I own this house! And, no I'm not trading with y-"

"Of course you'll trade with me! I deserve the best room!"

Maki narrowed her eyes. "I own this house. I deserve the room. You will sleep in a guest room. Okay?"

"Why you!" Nico tried to tackle Maki but got held back by Umi.

"Nico! Stop this nonsense! You should be grateful that Maki even let you into her house!"

Nico pouted (Probably trying to look cute, but she ended up looking like a pissed off puffer fish). "Hmph!"

Maki sighed and headed downstairs to the nearest butler. "Excuse me, could you please carry these suitcases up the stairs?"

The butler nodded and Maki went back upstairs.

"My butler is bringing up the bags. You guys should spend some time unpacking before we can go the beach. Since it's barely noon, the sun will be too hot anyways."

Eli nodded. "It is July after all."

"Hey, can we have lunch? I'm starving!" Nico collapsed to the floor dramatically.

Maki crossed her arms. "Lunch will be ready in 30 minutes, but you, Nico, will be prohibited from eating."

"Hey! What for?"

"For being a nuisance."

Maki walked into the direction of her room.

"Don't worry Nico, I'm sure she was joking..." Kotori's voice was unsure.

Very unsure.

Maki stepped into her vast bedroom. Opening her suitcase, Maki started to unpack her toiletries. Shampoo, conditioner, soap...

I forgot to bring soap!

Maki sighed.

Well, I could just go buy that later.

Maki opened her old closet. It was full of clothes that she left behind from her most recent trip to the house. Unfortunately, most of them were all too small for Maki.

"This is ridiculous."

Maki started to unpack her clothes from her suitcase.

After a while Maki decided she was finished and went back to the hallway where everybody else lived.

For some reason, everyone's doors were open and someone's portable stereo was in the middle of the hallway blasting Taylor Swift music.

And everyone was singing along from their respective rooms.

Maki frowned. "Um...guys?"

Immediately, Rin and Nico burst out of their rooms.

"LUNCH!" They shouted in unision.

Eli and Nozomi came out of their room.

"Is it lunch time?" Eli asked.

Maki nodded. "Follow me."

Kotori, Hanayo and Umi walked out of their rooms.

"Huh?" Kotori blinked slowly. "What are we doing?"

"Lunch time, Kotori. Did you have a nice nap?" Eli asked.

Kotori nodded slowly.

"Where's Honoka?" Maki asked.

"She's probably sleeping. I'll go wake her up." Umi walked into Honoka's room.

A few seconds later, a very cheerful Honoka bounced out, Umi following closely behind.

"Are we going to eat?" Honoka smiled.

Maki nodded. "Follow me."

Maki led the girls downstairs to the dining room, where there was a long table full of chicken, meat, fish, lobsters, pasta, pizza, and practically anything you can think of.

The chef was standing next to the table bowing to Maki.

"Please, help yourselves."

Maki smiled at her chef. "It looks delicious."

Everyone except Maki was staring at the food hungrily.

Maki took a seat at the table. "Sit down, guys."

Everyone sat down and started eating. Rin and Nico were eating at the fastest pace, followed by Honoka.

Needless to say, the food disappeared pretty quickly.

* * *

"I'm so full!" Rin exclaimed. "Wow, dessert!"

At that moment, 2 maids showed up with 9 slices of cheesecake. They placed a slice in front of everyone and bowed to Maki.

"Thank you." Maki smiled and the maids left.

"This cake looks kinda pretty! Time to instagram this real quick!" Nico pulled a camera out of her purse and started snapping away.

Honoka took a bite first. "MMHH DELICIOUS!"

Everyone starting to devour the cake

Soon enough the plates were empty and stomachs were full.

"Oh, I'm so full! Maki, can we go to the beach?" Honoka eyes were sparkling with hope.

"Uh, maybe not now. The sun is too strong at noon, " Maki replied.

"Well then what are we supposed to do? I'm bored of waiting around!" Nico whined.

Maki tried not to wince at Nico's voice. "We can play ping pong or watch a movie. Or-"

"FILM A YOUTUBE VIDEO! Guys let's do the chubby bunny challenge!" Nico grabbed her camera.

"No." Maki crossed her arms. "I will not allow you to film a challenge video in my house. Besides, I don't even have marshmallows!"

"Oooooh, Maki." Nozomi smirked. "I never knew you were trendy enough to know about the chubby bunny challenge. Could it be that you are a fan of youtube?"

* * *

Maki was tired of Nico's youtube channel. She was sick tired of it. Because of it, Maki was forced to do the chubby bunny challenge in front of _everyone_. And the **worst** part?

Maki won.

MAKI. WON.

Maki won with a score of 17 marshmallows. And the video was posted.

 _I, Nishikino Maki, solemnly swear that I shall murder Yazawa Nico by midnight tonight_.

"Maki! Let's go to the beach!"

Maki nodded, her face still stained red. "Sure, but we should probably go change first."

Maki started walking back to her room.

 _Let's see, now I have 5 swimsuits, a bikini, a 3 one pieces, and another bikini. Actually, I have 7 bikinis in the closet. Why do I have so many?_

Maki stared dumbfounded at her collection of swimsuits. _Well, I think I'll wear a one piece._

Maki put on a white one piece and started to slap sunscreen all over her face, covering the blush that had yet to fade. Perhaps it was permanent.

"Maki! Can we go now?" Eli called from outside Maki's door.

"Yes. And come in."

Eli came in wearing a jacket over a purple bikini.

Maki lowered her gaze. _Eli looks like a model._

"Let's go, Maki."

Maki nodded and followed Eli down the stairs.

"Hehe! Oh, the water is so warm! Maki, join us!" Rin called.

Maki was sitting under an umbrella reading a book. She stood up and walked in the sand towards her friends, who were all in the water.

"Maki! Took ya long enough to join us! Guys do you remember Maki? She's the girl who-mmmph!"

Maki slapped her hand over Nico's mouth, and the camera fell on the sand. "We agreed to never talk about that again."

"Maki! Now my camera's all dirty! Ugh!"

Maki dipped her foot into the water, and began wading in deeper and deeper, until the water came up to her waist.

"Hi Maki." Hanayo, who was floating on a pool floatie, smiled at Maki. "Wanna sit with me?"

"Sure."

Maki jumped onto the floatie, shaking it slightly. Hanayo slid slightly to make space for Maki.

"How was America, Maki? I wish I could go..."

"It was nice."

Maki closed her eyes and relished in the scent of sunscreen and saltwater.

A scream pierced the silence.

Maki's eyes shot up immediately. "What was that?"

Hanayo turned to look at the seashore. "Someone screamed."

Maki slid off the floatie. "I'm going to take a closer look."

Maki started wading toward the shore, and widened her eyes at the sight.

A girl was lying on the sand, blood pooling around her head.

Nearby, Nico, Honoka, Umi, Nozomi, Kotori, Rin and Eli were staring with wide eyes.

Eli noticed Maki and grabbed Maki's hand frantically. "Maki, you're a doctor, right? Do something!"

Maki nodded slowly. "Of course."

Maki bent down next to the girl, and examimed the injury. The girl was unconcious and had a wound on her head that was fairly minor. "Umi, did you call the ambulance?"

Umi grabbed her phone. "On it."

Maki placed the girl's head on her lap. "I need a clean cloth. Fast."

Honoka grabbed one of the towels that Maki brought and handed it to Maki. Maki took one corner of the towel and pressed it on the wound firmly. "How did she get injured?"

Nico bit her lip. "She was yelling something about fallen angels, and jumped off a boulder, but slipped and hit her head."

Maki nodded. "The wound isn't deep, but it wouod require stiching. I think she will be alright."

Almost on cue, the tension disappeared.

* * *

 **Merry (late) christmas! I really wanted to write a chirstmas special, but it wouldn't fit (Because it's still summer in the fic). I wrote this chapter on a phone, so there were probably typos everywhere. Neverthless, I hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Chapter 10

Maki stepped out of the patient's room.

"The doctor said she was fine."

Eli sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Nozomi, Eli and Umi were the only people Maki allowed to visit the patient with her, mainly because they were the most mature. And least likely to do something embarrassing.

Maki closed the door behind her and started to walk down the hall to the elevator. "We should go."

* * *

Maki sat down on a sofa in the living room, where all of the girls were gathered. "So... that girl was fine, the doctor said she was okay. I'm guessing that everyone who didn't go to the hospital with me took showers already..?"

Honoka nodded. "Everyone took showers...well Nico is still in the shower, but everyone else is all cleaned up."

"Wait...guys," Eli spoke up. "Isn't it Nico's birthday soon?"

Kotori clapped her hands lightly. "Oh yeah! July 22nd! We should do something!"

"OH! OH! Can we make a haunted house for her?" Rin exclaimed.

"Or an eating contest?" Honoka shouted.

"A rice eating contest!?" Hanayo's eyes started shining.

Honoka tapped her hand on her chin. "Hmm, well I was actually thinking about bread rather than rice."

"No way! Rice beats bread for sure!"

"WHAT?"

Honoka and Hanayo started arguing about carbs.

"I... would actually like to make a play," Umi stated softly (in midst of the chaotic Rice vs Bread war).

Eli turned her head to Umi. "A play? That's a great idea!"

"Whaaat? But I wanna have an eating contest!" Honoka whined.

"Well, perhaps it could be in the play?" Kotori suggested.

"And, don't forget the haunted house!" Rin shouted.

Maki massaged her temples. "Let's think about this. A play that MUST have an eating contest AND a haunted house. In addition to that, we MUST entertain Nico, so that would involve at least 400 truckloads of glitter...and remind me again, who is paying for this?"

Everyone in the room pointed at Maki. "You."

Maki gritted her teeth. "Marvelous, marvelous, just FANTASTIC. We have to divide the work somehow, but I'll have to come up with some sort of plan first. This is going to be a long week..."

Kotori smiled slightly. "Um, before that, should you, Eli and Nozomi shower first? We will wait down here have dinner later."

Maki nodded. "My chefs are preparing for a barbecue today. It should be ready in about an hour."

Maki slipped on a t-shirt with a pair of shorts. She patted her hair with a towel lightly. _What should the play be about?_

Maki grabbed her phone and started heading downstairs. _Well, it should be something that 8 girls can play._

"Maki! Can we eat now?" Rin whined.

Maki's eyes widened. I got it!

"I got it!"

Umi frowned. "Got what?"

Maki looked around to check if Nico was near, and when she saw Nico eating a bag of chips a fair distance away, Maki start talking. "The story for our play! I think it should be a sappy romance story about a princess! Nico would like that right?"

Umi nodded.

"So, the princess could be held captive by the evil prince of a neighboring kingdom, and the king and queen offer a reward to any young man who can rescue her!"

"What's the reward?" Umi asked.

"The princess's hand in marriage, of course! And that would make the young man a prince as well! So, a brave young man sets out to save the princess, and along the way, he wins an eating contest!"

"That's random."

Maki rolled her eyes. "Courtesy of Honoka. Anyway, he would have to enter a haunted house as well, so I was thinking, maybe he needed some money and worked in one before he left? We'll figure it out later. So, when the prince finally rescues the princess, they go back to the king and queen together, and get married!"

Umi smiled. "That seems perfect. Although, how did you get all of these ideas?"

Maki blushed slightly. "Oh, you know...just some thinking..."

 _And romance novels..._

Umi nodded. "Well, we've got the story down, who's going to be who?"

"Well, we'll need the princess, the young man, the king and queen, 2 eating contest competitors, the prince holding the princess captive, a sidekick for the evil prince, and maybe a haunted house worker. That's already 9 characters... Perhaps a few people can act two characters?"

"Okay. We should probably write this down."

"You're right. I'll go get some paper." Maki dashed up to her bedroom and grabbed the nearest notebook she found. When she came back downstairs, Maki flipped to the next blank page and started writing.

"Maki, how are we going to decide the actors?"

"I suppose we'll have to call another meeting with everyone. What if one of us takes Nico to the beach while we have the meeting?

"Sounds good." Umi smiled at Maki.

"GUYS I WANT FOOD!" Nico's piercing scream made Maki wince.

Maki walked over to the fuming Nico. "Uh... Nico?"

"Maki! You are a horrible host! How dare you make me wait for food?"

Maki sighed. "Nico, barbecue takes a long time to prepare. My maids are almost finished, so can you please wait?"

Nico looked in thought. "Hmm...Nah. I NEED FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Maki gave up and covered her ears.

Walking away from the whining mess of a human, Maki slid open the door that led to the grassy area where the barbecue was going to be held. "Ms. Kiruko, when will the food be ready?"

The maid named Kiruko slipped away from her the table where she was arranging plates full of raw meat. "Soon, Miss Maki. We shall be finished in 5 minutes."

Maki smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Maki closed the door and called, "Guys! Food will be ready in a few minutes."

Rin and Nico cheered in unison, "Yaaaay!"

Honoka squealed. "Barbecue! Bring in the booze!"

Maki grimaced. _This is not going to end well._

"Honoka! We shouldn't drink here! It's Maki's house, and we can't make a mess!" Umi pleaded Honoka.

Maki sighed. "It's fine, I already warned all the staff."

Honoka cheered. "OH YES!"

5 minutes later, the girls were walking on the grass, selecting their choice of meat and roasting it on the prepared grill.

"Mmmmmm Maki this beef is delicious!" Rin exclaimed, chewing with her mouth wide open.

"Uh...thanks. We imported this beef from Australia, so I'm glad you think that way."

Rin's jaw dropped when she realized that she must have consumed a fortune of meat.

"Guys! This is the best beef I've ever had in my life!" Nico said to her camera. "Hey, Maki! Say hello to my subscribers!"

"No." Maki turned away from Nico, but somehow got dragged into the camera's view. "Nico, stop!"

"Nope! Hey, guys remember Maki?"

Maki crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Well, of course, they remember me. You keep filming me every 5 minutes! Oh sorry did I say filming? I mean _forcibly_ _dragging me into the camera's view_. Gee. Thanks."

Nico smiled and pushed Maki away. "I'm going to ignore that. By the way, the shrimp is also amazing!"

Maki grimaced and started to _finally_ roast some kebabs. Finally. Without anyone bothering her.

After a half an hour of food, chatter, and selfies, the sun started to set, painting the sky and sea a gorgeous crimson.

Nico, of course, was taking a million photos. "Wow, imagine all the likes I'm going to get from this picture!"

Maki sighed and stared into the sky. _This is certainly a beautiful scene...but it's ruined by **them**._

Honoka, Nico, and Rin were stupidly prancing around the grass yelling something about the sunset giving them inner energy.

When Honoka had the best idea ever.

"Guys! We still have the booze!"

"Yaaaaaaa! Booze!" Rin cheered.

Maki buried her face into her palms. _Well, I should mentally prepare myself._

When Honoka brought in the alcohol, Kotori and Hanayo instantly passed out from one sip, Rin and Nico were having a drinking contest, Eli and Nozomi were watching everyone, while Maki was losing her sanity in the corner.

At least Maki took Nico's camera away. Smart girl.

"Maki, you're not going to drink?" Nozomi smirked at Maki.

"Um...I'd rather not drink..."

"Come on, one sip won't hurt! You'll feel great!"

Eli elbowed Nozomi. "Nozomi... don't."

Nozomi looked rather offended. "What? I wasn't trying to do anything!" Nozomi leaned forward in her seat. "But seriously, if you don't drink, you'll be stuck dealing with a drunk Nico. You wouldn't want that, do you?"

Maki turned to look at Nico and Rin, who were already drunk and climbing onto a horrified Umi. "Uh... maybe not."

"Then drink! All your troubles will disappear!" Nozomi winked at Maki.

Eli shook her head. "Maki, don't do it."

Maki bit her lip and fought the temptation. "No. I will not drink tonight."

Unfortunately, Nico and Rin just noticed Maki.

"MAKI! WHATTTUP DUDE! I WANNA GO FISHING FOR ELEPHANTS! PLEASE TAKE MEEEE!" Rin wiggled around on the grass.

Nico latched herself onto Maki's legs. "NO FAIR! MAKI IS GOING TO TAKE _ME_!"

Rin stood up shakily. "WHAT? NO WAY! MAKI LIKES ME MORE!" Rin hugged Maki tightly. "MAKIIIIIIII I LOVE YOU MORE THAN NICO DOES PLEASE TAKE MEEEEEEE!"

Nico pulled Rin off Maki and pushed her to the ground. "HEY, MAKI LIKES ME MORE, OKAY? SEE?" Nico started to lean in closer to Maki's face.

Maki has had enough.

Maki has lost almost all of her sanity.

Maki pulled herself out of Nico's grasp.

And she began to drink.

A lot.

Soon enough, Maki was drunk.

"Bwahahahahaha! Nico, you're so funny! Ahhahahahaha! Oh, Nico..." Maki was kneeling on the floor next to a dancing Rin and a very smiley Nico.

Maki laughed and laughed, clapping her hands at the smiling Nico. "Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Guhhh... Hahahahahahahaha! Oh, Nicoo." Maki stared at Nico's smiley face and started to lean in closer.

And closer.

And closer

And even closer.

Her face merely inches away from Maki's Nico stopped smiling and began to panic slightly.

"STOP!" Umi pulled Maki away from Nico and starting yelling. "YOU THREE HAVE HAD FAR TOO MUCH TO DRINK! I'M BRINGING YOU TO BED."

Nozomi smiled slightly. "Umi, why'd you have to ruin the show?"

Umi turned her head to Nozomi. "The show? What show? You mean laughing Maki, dancing Rin, happy Nico, and passed out Honoka? WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT THAT?"

Umi grabbed Maki's arm and started dragging Maki back into the house.

* * *

 **Well, this was fun to write.**

 **Note: This story has no romance. For sure.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, everyone! I made this chapter extra long to make up for the late updates. Anyways, please enjoy!**

* * *

Maki woke with a splitting headache. "Ugh..."

 _Why do I have a headache?_

 _OH MY GOD._

Maki jumped out of her bed as it dawned on her that she had gotten completely drunk last night. _Why did I get drunk? I must've done something embarrassing..._

Maki glanced at the mirror and yelped in shock.

Her shirt was stained with alcohol, her hair a mess, and her face full of lipstick stains.

Maki was horrified.

Absolutely horrified.

 _What do I do now? Who kissed my cheek? What did I do? How will I go outside now?_

Maki stood in front of the mirror frozen in shock. _Well, I'm dead. What time is it?_

Maki looked for her phone, and when she saw it lying on the floor, Maki picked it up.

 _9:44_

 _That's pretty late. I should get ready for breakfast but..._

 _OH. MY. GOD._

 _MY STAFF!_

 _What will I do about the staff members who witnessed me drunk? They will never look at me the same way again!_

Maki paced around her room, anxiety crawling up her spine. _I'll have to call the staff member I trust the most._

Maki dialed a number and nervously waited for the woman to answer.

"Hello?"

"Miss Loretta, I...I'm very sorry about what happened last night. I hope that you and the other staff members did not have a hard time cleaning up..."

"Miss Maki, everything is alright. We cleaned up everything, and breakfast is ready."

"Are any of my friends out of their rooms?"

"The lady with the long blonde hair has had breakfast, and she is currently reading by the pool. Everyone else is in their rooms, although I heard some voices a few minutes ago."

"Oh...I see. If anybody else goes downstairs, please tell them to eat something, and I...I will have breakfast in my room today."

"I see. What would you like, pancakes or yogurt with fruit?"

"I would actually prefer some soup. Maybe some minestrone?"

"I shall bring it up to your room in 20 minutes. "

"Thank you. Oh, and before I hang up this call, can you please keep it a secret that I gave you these orders and had a phone call with you?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." Maki hung up the call and entered her bathroom to shower.

When Maki came out, she heard a knock om her door.

"Miss Nishkino? I have brought your breakfast."

"Please just place it on the floor in front of my room."

 _I can not leave this room._

Once the maid left, Maki put on a t-shirt and some jeans. _My headache is starting to subside._

Maki opened her door just a crack and quickly grabbed the tray of food, to ensure that nobody saw her.

Although, their rooms were literally on the other side of the house, but whatever.

Maki checked the time again.

 _10:15_

Maki looked at her breakfast. There was a big bowl of piping hot minestrone soup, and some bread on the side, as well as some baby tomatoes in a little bowl, all placed in a fancy metal tray.

Maki sat down at her desk and started to eat the soup slowly.

* * *

Maki checked the time.

 _11:00_

Maki heard banging on her door. "MAKI! YOU NEED TO COME OUT IMMEDIATELY! I WANNA GO SHOPPING!"

 _Crap._

Maki bit her lip and stayed silent.

"MAKI! I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE ANSWER ME ALREADY!"

...

"MAKI! UGH! Okay, I give up. ELI!"

There were soft whispering sounds, and then Maki heard Eli clear her throat.

"Maki, I am alone now, Nico has decided to go get breakfast. You need to come outside, Umi told me about your idea for our play."

...

"Maki... don't be embarrassed. Nozomi had already sworn not to mention last night and the pictures and videos were... well, Nozomi swore not to show them to anyone. So, will you please come out?"

Maki bit her lip harder.

"If you're not going to come out then at least can you-"

"If someone mentions last night, I shall be in my room for the rest of this trip." Maki opened the door.

"Finally! Now, Nozomi will take Nico to the mall, while we have our meeting. Alright?"

Maki nodded.

* * *

"So, we are going to produce a play for Nico's birthday! Maki here has thought up of an idea, and she's going to tell us now!" Eli nodded at Maki.

"Um, so Nico likes cliche princess stories, right? So I was thinking about making the play about a kidnapped princess."

Rin raised her hand. "Maki! I have a question."

"Yes?"

"What's the story?"

"Well, the beautiful princess is kidnapped by the prince from a nearby kingdom, and the king and queen offer a reward to anyone young man to save her-"

"Maki! That's sexist! Women can save her too!" Rin interrupted.

Maki gritted her teeth. "That is true, but for the sake of the story, I'm going to ignore that. Anyways, a brave young man decides to embark on a mission, but he doesn't have any money! So, he works in a haunted house before her leaves, and he buys a sword and some food. Then he embarks on the mission."

"Maki! What about the eating contest?" Honoka asked.

"Well, the young man enters one during his journey. Oh, and meanwhile, the princess gets harassed by the evil prince. And, um, just as the evil prince is about to kill the princess, the young man bursts into the room and saves the princess. Eventually, they get married and the story ends." Maki scanned her friends' faces. "So... What do you guys think?"

Hanayo smiled slightly. "Seems like something Nico would enjoy."

Umi nodded. "Yes...and we don't have any better ideas so let's just use this one."

"Okay, so now we have to think of the people playing each character." Eli started to write on Maki's notebook. "There are 8 characters in all: The Princess, The Young Man, The King, The Queen, The Evil Prince, The Haunted House Manager, and 2 eating contest competitors. I think that there should be 2 people working backstage, so that leaves us 6 girls to play 8 characters... Hmm, alright we'll figure that out later. Does anyone want to play a specific character?"

Honoka, Rin and Hanayo's hands shot up.

Eli sighed. "Honoka?"

"I wanna play the eating contest competitor!"

Eli wrote Honoka's name down. "Rin?"

"Haunted house manager!"

Eli wrote it down. "And...Hanayo?"

"Eating contest competitor, please!"

Eli wrote Hanayo's name down. "Okay...anyone else? We still have the princess, the man, the king and queen, and the evil prince left."

Umi shyly raised her hand. "Can I work backstage?"

Eli nodded and wrote down Umi's name down. "Anyone else?"

"I want to work backstage," Maki stated.

Rin slammed her hand on her lap. "No way, Maki! You have to play the princess! Nico would love it!"

Eli made an apologetic face at Maki. "Sorry, Maki, but Rin's right. Besides, it would be inappropriate for the owner of the house to work behind the scene."

Maki frowned. "So I have to play the princess?"

"...Yes."

Maki gritted her teeth.

"Moving on! We need another person to work backstage...How about you, Kotori?"

Kotori nodded. "Sure! I can help with the hair, makeup, and costumes!"

Eli smiled. "Okay, so we now we need the king and queen! Hmm, maybe Nozomi can play the queen. Honoka, do you want to play the king in addition to the eating contest competitor?"

"Okay!"

"Wait." Maki narrowed her eyes at Eli. "Who are YOU playing?"

Eli clasped her hands together. "I completely forgot about myself! Let's see, we have the part of the young man, and the part of the evil prince left. Who wants to be one of these?"

Rin raised her hand. "I wanna be the evil prince! Mwahahahahahaha!"

Eli smiled slightly. "Er... Sure. Then I guess I'll be the young man." Eli wrote her own name down onto the notebook. "So here are the castings: Rin as the evil prince and the haunted house manager, Hanayo as the eating contest competitor, Maki as the Princess, Honoka as the King and the eating contest competitor, Kotori and Umi working backstage, Nozomi as the Queen, and I am the young man."

Maki bit her lip. "We don't have any names, though."

"Hmm..the names huh? Anyone have suggestions?" Eli called.

Kotori spoke, "Can we name the princess after a flower? It would be cute."

"A flower?" Maki said. "Lavender, Daisy, Sunflower, Rose..." Maki suddenly thought about the incredible rose flavored ice cream she tasted a few days ago. "How about Princess Rose?"

"But is that classy enough?" Eli asked. "I want a really classy name for the princess."

Maki thought of all of the flowers she could think of. "Jasmine, Orchid, Bluebell, Tulip, Magnolia... Princess Magnolia sounds pretty good."

"Magnolia, huh? What if we changed it a bit to make it sound royal? Like Amornia or something, " Umi stated.

"Oh! That actually sounds really nice!" Eli exclaimed.

Maki nodded. "Amornia? Sounds like Ammonia, the compound of nitrogen and hydrogen."

"What?" Honoka scratched her head.

"Um...Nevermind. Princess Amornia it is. What about the young man?" Maki asked.

"OH! OH! LET'S NAME HIM BOB!" Rin shouted.

Honoka nodded her head vigorously. "BOB! BOB!"

Eli winced. "Bob is a bit..."

"Classless. Bob is classless," Maki said, breaking Rin's and Honoka's hearts. "Sorry."

"How about Elise?" Umi suggested.

"That's perfect!" Eli stared at Umi. "Where did you get all of these ideas?"

Umi shrugged. "Read too many novels."

"Elise is good. What about the evil prince? He has to sound evil."

Eli turned to Umi. "Well, you think of the best names. What do you think, Umi?"

"Vorit. Prince Vorit."

"Sounds like vomit. Well, the guy is a disgusting human being, so it's a fitting name, " Maki said. "I think the rest of characters aren't that important so we don't have to think of their names now. Actually... Honoka, Rin, Hanayo. How would you guys like to name the characters you are playing?"

Hanayo's eyes lit up. "Name the eating contest competitor Rice!"

"Name my eating contest dude Bread!"

Hanayo glared at Honoka and vice versa.

"Maki, name the haunted house manager Bob!" Rin called.

Eli sighed and wrote down the classless names. "Well, at least they are minor characters..."

"Well, we've got most of this play planned out. Should we write a script or just wing it?" Maki asked.

"Script for sure. Winging it is pretty much impossible. I'll write the script." Eli said. "What are you guys going to do?"

"We have 2 more hours until Nico comes back, and 7 days until we have to perform... I'll help you, Eli." Umi volunteered.

"I'll help figure out some hairstyles and makeup," Kotori stated. "Although I'll have to wait for the script before I can design the costumes."

"I have some old dresses you can for the actual play," Maki pursed her lips. "But they might not be in the right sizes."

"That's fine, I can alter them. But I still need to know what to design before I can actually start. So I'll do the hair and makeup first." Kotori smiled.

"Maki, what will you do to contribute?" Eli asked.

"I... I'll set up a room to work in, and I'll go buy any supplies we'll need," Maki replied.

"Can I go with you?" Rin's eyes were shining.

"Um, sure." Maki fidgeted her fingers slightly. _Rin is going to cause a huge mess at the mall._ "Honoka, what are you going to do?"

"I'll help you set up a practice room, Maki! And Hanayo you should help us too!"

Hanayo nodded. "Okay!"

"Alright, so everyone knows what they are going to do, Umi and I will try to finish the script by tomorrow morning, and Maki, how long do you want the play to be?" Eli inquired.

"Maybe... 1 hour?" Maki replied.

"Okay. Well then, let's get started!"

Eli and Umi started talking together immediately, and Maki began to walk away.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will try to update more often! This chapter was really fun to write. Thank you to everyone who reads this story, and please review!**

 **Note: Eli is classy**


	12. Chapter 12

"Miss Loretta, my friends and I are planning to produce a play for the girl with black hair and red eyes. Could you prepare a room for us to work in? Perhaps one of the living rooms?"

Loretta nodded. "Would the living room on the 3rd floor be alright? It has a plain couch and some bean bags."

"I... don't quite remember that room. How big is it?" Maki asked.

"It's about the size of your bedroom, Miss. Perhaps a little larger."

Maki nodded. "Alright, let's use that room."

"I shall prepare some refreshments." Loretta bowed to Maki and slipped away.

Maki turned to Rin, Hanayo, and Honoka. "Follow me."

Maki led the gang up to the third floor, into a large spacious room filled with space. "Here it is."

Rin and Honoka immediatly dove into the bean bags.

"YAY! BEANBAGGY!" They shouted in unison.

Maki stared at them. _What?_ "Um, guys... let's stay on task."

Honoka sat up. "Okay! What are we doing first?"

"Let's start by acting out our characters. Rin, sit up."

Rin sat up. "Aye, sir!"

"Okay, now, your name is _Bob._ And you're the manager of the haunted house."

"Yes!"

"And...hm... Actually, let's get Eli and Umi to come here as well. We need to know what the characters will be like before practicing." Maki grabbed her phone and called Eli.

"Yes, Maki?"

"Eli, we're working in a room on the third floor. Where are you?"

"We're in my room."

"Okay, so can we work together? It was a bad idea to separate."

"I agree since I don't want to create characters without your opinion. Where are you?"

"In a room on the third floor. Come up the stairs and I be standing in the hallway."

"Alright."

Eli hung up, and Maki turned to Hanayo. "Hanayo, watch these two for me. I'm going to bring Eli and Umi here."

Hanayo nodded.

Maki exited the room and waited in the hallway for a while.

"Maki!" Eli walked up the stairs and to Maki. "Where is the room?"

"Right here..."

Maki opened the door, only to see bean bags scattered across the room.

Somehow, Rin and Honoka managed to have a full bean bag fight in the mere seconds that Maki was gone.

"KYAA! OH RINNN I'M GONNA KILL YOUU!" Honoka threw multiple pillows at Rin.

Rin ducked and flung a beanbag at Honoka. "Nyaa!"

Hanayo cowered in the corner. "S-sorry Maki..."

Eli, Maki and Umi sighed in unison.

Eli clapped her hand twice. "Excuse me! Honoka! Rin! Clean up this mess so that we can begin!"

Honoka and Rin hung their heads.

"Yes, ma'am."

Eli sat on a sofa cross-legged next to Umi. "Alright so now we have an hour and a half until Nico comes back. I already called Nozomi and she's going to call us when Nico is close to the house. I think that we should establish our characters' personalities first so that Umi and I work on the script."

Maki nodded. "Sounds good."

"So, Maki, what kind of person do you have in mind for Princess Amornia?" Umi asked.

"Hm... perhaps an intelligent young woman who never loses hope during her time being kidnapped. And, maybe she tries to escape?"

Eli started writing notes. "Okay. We'll keep that in mind when we write the script. What about Elise?"

"A brave young man who loves his kingdom. He goes on the journey because he genuinely cares for the well-being of the royal family."

Honoka nodded with an approving expression. "A personality that probably won't exist in real life. Perfect!"

Eli wrote some more notes. "Okay...And the evil prince?"

"A true jerk to the core. He thinks that the princess is pretty and want her to be his concubine. When the king and queen refuses, he kidnaps the princess and...stuff."

Rin raised her hand. "Question! Why does he kidnap her."

"Because he can force her to become his concubine. Oh, and the evil prince is really good at fighting with a sword."

Rin cheered. "YAY! MY CHARACTER CAN FIGHT! Can I fight Eli?"

Eli nodded. "A fight between the protagonist and the antagonist is important. Maki, what do you think about the king and queen?"

"They both love their daughter, of course. The king is desperate and willing to pay any price, while the queen slips into a depression."

Eli wrote down more notes. "Right... now, Honoka!"

Honoka saluted. "Yes?"

"What is um... Bread like?"

Honoka's eyes lit up. "Bread is a legendary competitive eater, he has trained for countless years... He was destined to eat ever since he was you-"

"Okay, Hanayo?" Eli cut Honoka off.

Honoka pouted.

"Um... Rice is very nice. She likes to eat rice. And she has a talent for eating."

"Alright! Now, lastly, Rin?"

Rin started jumping up and down. "Oh! Oh! Bob is cool! He's a cool dude!"

Eli nodded slowly. "Okay." Eli closed her notebook. "Now, Umi and I will write the script with these characters in mind. Maki, I will work on the table. You guys can stay on the beanbags and make a shopping list for the supplies we'll need."

Maki nodded. "What do you think we'll need?"

"Probably...fabric, prop making tools, set making tools, paint, and more. You figure it out."

Eli and Umi sat down at the table and began to discuss urgently.

Maki turned to Honoka. "Where is Kotori?"

"Uh... I think she's in her room?"

"Can you go get her?"

"Sure!" Honoka bounced up and out of the room.

Maki opened up her notebook. "Fabric, props, set... Is there anything else we'll need?"

"Snacks!" Rin exclaimed.

"Uh...do we really need that?" Hanayo asked.

"Of course we do! Food is life! We can't work if we're dead!"

Maki frowned. "While it's true that we humans need food to live, there is plenty of food here. Why would we need to buy more?"

Rin pouted. "Weeell! The food here is boring! We need some potato chips! Spread the trans fat!"

"Rin, there isn't always trans fat in potato chips," Maki said.

"Then we'll buy some pie! Spread the CREAAM!"

"..."

"Makiiiiii-"

"Rin, please don't act like Yazawa Nico. One of her is enough to make me die inside." Maki smiled. "We'll buy the snacks, okay?"

"YAY! THANK YOU MAKI I LOVE YOU!" Rin cheered.

Maki nodded. "Alright, then once Kotori comes up we-"

"She's here!"

Honoka's loud voice made Maki wince, as Honoka burst through the door with Kotori behind her.

"Ah, perfect timing Kotori. We are going to work in this room from now on, so feel free to leave any designs or whatever in here." Maki stood up. "We are going to go shopping for some materials. Is there anything you need at the moment?"

Kotori blinked. "Uh...oh! I need some bobby pins and hair bun makers!"

Maki nodded and wrote in her notepad. "Alright, then we should go."

* * *

Maki left Rin to get her snacks, while Hanayo and Honoka followed her through the supermarket. Maki pushed the trolley to the hair accessories section. "Bobby pins...Hair bun makers." Maki grabbed the items and dumped it into the trolley.

"Maki, can we get some bread?" Honoka pleaded.

"No! Maki, can we get some rice?" Hanayo begged.

Maki frowned. "We have both bread and rice at the house. Why would you need more?"

Honoka and Hanayo pouted at the same time. "It's not enough!" they shouted in unison.

Random passersby glanced at Maki, who cringed inwardly.

"Alright, alright. We'll get bread and rice. "

"Yay! We can have a bread party!" Honoka cheered.

"I think you mean rice-not bread, but yay!" Hanayo cheered.

Maki started to push her trolley towards the cashier.

"Maki!" Rin, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, jogged up Maki's trolley and dumped at least 8 bags of chips into it. "Are we going now?"

"Yes."

* * *

 **Happy late Valentine's day! I apologize for not updating for almost a month. Thank you to all that reviewed!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Maki! Where were you?"

Nico's voice was high pitched and whiny.

"I was shopping, Nico." Maki walked past Nico and set her purse on the table. "What would you like to do next?"

"Hmm... I wanna go into the pool!" Nico gestured wildly in the direction of the giant outdoor pool in Maki's mansion.

"Alright..."

Once Maki slipped away from Nico, Maki walked upstairs and entered the working room.

"Maki! You're back! Nico came an hour ago, and I think she wants to go into the pool," Eli said.

Maki nodded. "I know. We'll let her go in the pool with Rin and Honoka. You can work on the script with Umi." Maki gestured to Umi, who was typing on her laptop furiously.

"Okay. Did you tell Rin and Honoka yet?"

"Not yet. They're in their rooms. I'll call them."

Eli nodded and Maki took out her phone.

"Hello?"

"Honoka, Nico wants to go to the pool. Can you and Rin go with her?"

"THE POOL? OH MY GOSH YASS!"

Maki frowned and hung up the call.

"What did she say?" Eli asked.

"She said yes. Eli, what should I do right now?"

Eli gestured to Kotori, who was drawing dress designs on paper. "I want you to get measured by Kotori, so she can make your dresses later. Then you can help her plan hairstyles. I already gave her a basic outline of the hairstyles anyway."

Maki nodded, and Eli turned to go sit next to Umi.

Maki sat on the bean bags next to Kotori. "Um..hi Kotori. Eli told me to get measured by you."

Kotori nodded. "Sure!" Kotori grabbed her measuring tape and began to wrap it around Maki's waist. "20 inches...Wow, Maki, your waist got so small."

"Um..."

Kotori measured Maki's hips and bust...awkwardly.

"Okay, we're done now..." Kotori wrote down the measurements on a piece of paper. "Let's try some hairstyles!"

Kotori patted the beanbag in front of her. "Sit, Maki."

Maki sat down in front of Kotori. "So...what's the first style?"

Kotori handed Maki a rough sketch of an elegant hair bun. "Eli gave me this sketch. Apparently, it's the hairstyle the princess has before she gets kidnapped. Stay still, Maki."

Kotori brushed Maki's hair and sprayed it with heat protective spray. Then, the curling iron was turned on and Maki tried not wince when Kotori began to curl strands of Maki's hair very close to her head.

"Hm...I think it should go like this..."

Moments later, Maki found herself with hair clips and pins all over her hair as Kotori began to do some sort of black magic and perfectly replicate the hairstyle on the sketch.

"There! Maki, have a look." Kotori passed Maki a mirror and Maki studied herself.

Maki's hair was up in a high twisted bun with some curled strands framing her face, an exact copy of the sketched drawing. _Kotori knows what she's doing..._

"Eli, what do you think?"

Eli stood up from her chair and strode over to Maki. "Maki, let me see...Wow very nice, Kotori! It's exactly like the sketch. Although now that I've gotten a closer look, I think a lime green hairpin would look good with Maki's hair."

Kotori nodded and started to write notes. "I'll try to make that with the prop making tools. How about a rose shaped pin?"

"That would be great. Hm...what color should Maki's dress be when she gets kidnapped?"

Kotori looked up from her notepad. "How about a red dress with purple in it? It would bring out her eyes and the red would go well with her hair."

"Yes yes..that would be perfect. Umi and I are almost finished with the script now, we just need to double check everything first. Kotori...I want you to try this hairstyle as well."

Eli went back to her table and came back with a piece of paper. "This is the hair that the princess has while she is in captive."

Maki peered over Kotori's shoulder. The sketch was a woman with long, straight and slightly messy hair.

Kotori grabbed her phone. "Wait, before I do that style, I need to get a few pictures of this one first. Maki, stop moving. " Kotori snapped a few photos and motioned for Maki to sit down.

Maki sat down and Kotori began to untie Maki's fancy hair bun and brush her hair through. "Eli, like this?"

Eli nodded approvingly. "Yes, yes. The princess has very nice hair, so it won't be too messy."

Maki studied her slightly messy hair in the mirror. "Are these all of the hairstyles you have planned out so far?"

"Yes. Maybe you guys can go check up on Nico," Eli said.

Maki stood up and turned to leave. "Oh, and where is Nozomi?"

"She's in her room sleeping, " Kotori spoke up. "I think she got tired from teasing Nico too much."

Maki frowned. "Oh."

"KYAAHHHHHHH! RIN MY CAMERA IS WET!"

Nico's screams were echoed throughout the entire first floor and Maki found herself cringing as she stepped into the pool area.

"Hi, Maki!" Rin cheerfully greeted Maki as she aimed her water gun at Nico. "Nico, stay still!"

Nico squealed and threw a towel over her camera (probably trying to protect it). "RIN, STOP IT!"

Rin smiled and sprayed Nico with water. "Nope! Nico, stay _still_ "

Nico made a face. "What? Why should I stay still? I don't want to get soaked!"

"But you're wearing a swimming suit!" Rin grinned. "PLUS, I'm giving you a bath!"

"WHAAAT?"

Maki observed the strange exchange unamused. "Guys, stop fighting already. And where is Honoka? "

Something flashed past Maki and jumped into the pool. "I'M HERREEEEEEEE!" It screamed as it flew into the water cannonball style, splashing water everywhere.

It took Maki a few seconds to register the fact that the flash was Honoka. "Huh?"

Honoka floated up the surface of the pool. "Hi, Maki!"

Nico scowled at Honoka. "Great, now I'm wet again."

Honoka pouted. "Whaaat?"

"Hey, guys let's have a WATER GUN FIGHT!" Rin screamed as she sprayed water onto a fuming Nico.

"OH MY GOSH YASSSS!" Honoka shouted. "But where are the water guns?"

Rin gestured to the backpack sitting next to Nico. "In there. Nico, ya playing?"

Nico unzipped the backpack and grabbed a pink water gun. "Well of course I am! I still need revenge!"

"Then! Here are the rules!" Rin exclaimed. "If you get wet, you're out! If you are already wet, dry yourself! Now, we will all be playing in teams The team with the last dry person wins! We don't have enough people, but Hanayo, Kotori, and Nozomi are on their way!"

Maki blinked. "What?"

"I called them earlier," Rin explained. "Anyways! Honoka and Hanayo will be on my team! Nozomi and Kotori will be with Nico!"

"What about Maki?" Honoka asked.

Maki frowned. "I'm not playing-"

"Food- er GOOD question! Maki will be the golden prize! Any team that gets her wet will automatically win!"

"What? I never agreed to this!" Maki protested.

"Too bad! Oh, here they are! Guys!" Rin greeted Hanayo, Kotori, and Nozomi, who just entered the pool area.

"Hi!" Kotori replied. "We know the rules already, when are you going to start?"

"Get some water guns first. Now, we are only allowed in the pool area, the backyard, the lawn, and the garden! When the game starts, we separate into teams and have a 10 minute planning time! Maki will have to use this time to hide within the playing area!"

"Excuse me, I never agreed-"

"During the planning time we are not allowed to shoot each other, and the team that wins gets 1 kiss from Maki!"

"NO!" Maki screamed.

"Cool!" Honoka shouted at the same time. "Can we get food too?"

"Absolutely!"

Honoka grabbed a blue water gun. "Can we star-"

"W-W-WAIT!" Maki shouted. "Let's compromise! The team ONLY gets a kiss if they get me wet!"

Rin nodded. "Okay! That makes sense! Now, everyone, get into your teams!"

Honoka happily jumped next to Hanayo and Rin while Nico walked to dashed to Nozomi and Kotori.

"Then! We will start the game!"

"5!" Everyone except Maki shouted.

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

Maki braced herself as chaos erupted.

After the game started, Maki immediately bolted away from the pool area. _There is only one hiding spot they will not know,_ Maki thought. _The garden's maze!_

Maki expertly navigated through the garden to the opening of a maze of tall thick bushes. Maki hesitated. _Do I still remember the way?_ Maki shook her head. _Of course, I do! I played her ever since I was 3._

Maki dashed into the maze.

* * *

 **My apologies for not updating often this month. I was having a major writer's block. Just asking, would you prefer me to update short chapters often or long chapters less often. I will add a poll to my profile. Anyways, there are more chapters to come and please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

Maki held her breath as she curled up under a tree in the heart of the giant maze. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Maki began to type a text to Eli.

 _Nishikino Maki,_ 2:07 PM

 **Eli, how's the script going?**

 **I got dragged into some water gun fight. Send help.**

Maki waited for a reply calmly. _Rin will never find this spot,_ Maki thought as she peered at her phone again.

 _Ayase Eli, 2:08 PM_

 **Poor you.**

 **The script is going great. We're over 70% done. Printing is going to come soon, so you need to prepare a printer.**

Maki began to text a reply.

 _Nishikino Maki, 2:09 PM_

 **Can you come see me?**

 **I'm hiding in the garden's maze.**

Maki was waiting for a reply when she heard a faraway holler that sounded a lot like Rin. Maki quickly typed to Eli.

 _Ayase Eli, 2:09 PM_

 **Um...**

 _Nishikino Maki, 2:09 PM_

 **COME QUICKLY I HEAR RIN**

 **PUT YOUR LEFT HAND ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE MAZE AND FOLLOW IT**

 **IT'S THE MAZE RULE**

 **HURRY**

 _Ayase Eli, 2:10 PM_

 **I should probably do the script with Umi**

 **And why should I go see you?**

 **You can hide in the maze alone.**

 _Nishikino Maki, 2:10 PM_

 **Pls come**

 **I'm scared of Rin's water gun skills.**

 _Ayase Eli, 2:10 PM_

 **Ugh fine**

 **I'm on the way.**

Maki slipped her phone into her pocket and curled up into a ball under a tree. _What if Rin finds me?_

Moments later, Maki heard hasty footsteps coming her way. "Rin!?"

Fortunately for Maki, Eli showed up instead of Rin. "Nope, just me. "

"Thank goodness!" Maki sighed in relief. "Thanks for coming. You came awfully fast."

"Putting your left hand on the maze wall helped." Eli sat down next to Maki. "I didn't see Rin, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I heard her voice near the entrance. I think she knows you're in here."

Maki stood up. "We should probably go, then. That gap over there exits out on the other side of the garden if we take the correct turns."

Eli shook her head. "Maybe we should stay. This maze is awfully complicated, and Rin probably won't find the center easily."

"Well, maybe it would be nice to get a headstart..."

"Having a backup plan would be nice. Leaving now would mean that you would have to find another place to hide. What if Rin is patrolling outside the maze?"

"Is she smart enough?"

Eli looked at Maki. "Don't underestimate Rin, Maki. Rin is very smart. While you were in college, Rin worked really hard in school. Her GPA was 3.8 at one point."

Maki blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. So let's just make up a backup plan just in case. Other than the maze, are there any other good place to hide?"

"Well, there's a shack of pool supplies near the pool. Oh, and a treehouse in the other side of the garden."

"How about this? If Rin comes we run through that exit of the maze. Then we go to that shack and grab a kickboard or something. After that, we can go up the treehouse."

"Well-"

"Oh! I have a good idea! What if we get a water gun? Then we can shoot everyone out!"

Maki frowned. "Is that even allowed?"

"Well, they did force you into this game. You may as well just take advantage of it."

"Hm...Alright!" Maki smiled. "Let's do it!"

Eli grinned. "That's the spirit!"

Maki pointed to the exit. "When Rin comes, we run that way, let me lead. We are going through the herb garden."

Eli nodded. "Okay...what else?"

"Then we are going to run back to the pool area and get water guns. And not just one-we are going to take that whole backpack."

Eli smiled wider. "Perfect."

Maki smiled back. "Then we go the treehouse and wait."

Eli grinned. "And we are ready."

Maki and Eli knelt in the gap at the beginning of the escape route and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Maki checked the time on her phone.

 _2:36 PM._

"Do you think she is coming anytime soon?" Maki asked.

Eli shrugged. "Probably. She has Honoka, after all. Honoka always finds a way."

Maki stared at the entrance way to the maze center.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared.

Soon enough the warm heat of the afternoon lulled Maki into a deep sleep...

* * *

"Maki! Maki!"

Maki opened her eyes to a frantic Eli. "Huh?"

Eli gestured to the entrance. "I swear I heard Hanayo!"

Maki hastily checked the time.

 _2:51 PM._

Maki stood up. "Let's go." Maki grabbed Eli's hand and went through the intricate maze expertly.

A few seconds after Maki turned left, Maki heard Rin's voice.

"She's not here!"

Maki ran faster.

Once Maki and Eli were out of the maze, they stopped to rest.

"Well, Maki, that was close."

Maki nodded. "Let's continue."

Maki led Eli to a small garden full of aromatic herbs.

"Wow!" Eli stared at the derps while they walked past. "I never knew your family owned something like this."

Maki shrugged. "We use them in soups and some salads. Some of them are used in homemade medicine."

Maki gestured to a door at the end of the garden. "That door leads back to the pool."

Eli nodded. "Do you think Rin is following us?"

Maki pushed open the door. "Probably not. Although, we still don't know where Nico's team is."

Eli followed Maki through the door. "Yeah."

Maki led Eli through a short path between two walls. "Ah, we're here."

Maki and Eli emerged through a door behind the pool area.

Eli immediately grabbed the backpack full of water guns and Maki went into the shed.

"Maki? What are you doing?"

Maki came out with 4 buckets. "Buckets for water, " she said while filling up the buckets with pool water. "Don't worry, the pool is saltwater. Saltwater isn't that bad for your skin."

Eli smiled. "Should we go?"

Maki nodded.

* * *

After walking back through the garden without any encounters, Maki and Eli stood in front of a small treehouse.

Maki set the pails of water on the ground. "Eli, I'll climb up the ladder halfway. You hand me the buckets."

Eli nodded. "Roger."

Maki carefully climbed up the rope ladder that extended from the treehouse, stopping halfway. Eli handed her the buckets, and Maki placed each into the treehouse.

Once all buckets were in the treehouse, Maki clambered all the way to the top and gestured for Eli to follow.

Eli stepped into the treehouse. "Wow, nice place."

Maki shrugged.

Eli opened the backpack and emptied out the water guns. "Which ones should we use?"

Maki studied the plastic toys. There were 6 water guns in total; 3 big, 3 small. Maki took a big red water gun. "I'll take this one. We should get 1 big gun and 1 small one each. Let's leave the rest here. I'll fill up all of the water guns."

Eli nodded. "I'll take the blue water gun."

Maki handed Eli the water gun. "Can you stay on watch?"

"Sure."

Maki knelt down on the wooden floor and carefully filled up each water gun with pool water. "Eli, if someone comes we shoot, okay?"

Eli turned to Maki and nodded. "Yeah. But what if we run out of water?"

"Once we run out of the third bucket, one of us will have to go back to the pool."

"I'll go," Eli said. "Since I can get wet without, um, consequences."

Maki nodded. "Okay."

Maki continued to fill up each water gun. _Where in the world is Nico?_ Maki thought as she filled the last water gun with water. "Eli, where do you-"

"Shh!" Eli peered out the window. "Do you see that?"

Maki looked out the window. Something black was poking out from behind a tall bush. "Is it Nico?"

"I think so. Maki, the ladder!"

Maki immediately began pulling up the rope ladder that was the only exit out or in the treehouse. "What do we do if she comes?"

Eli turned to Maki. "You take that window, I'll take this one. We'll shoot everyone out!"

Maki laid all of the water guns out on the floor. "Roger."

"KYAH! Nozomi!"

Nico was now walking around screaming (with Nozomi tickling her) ."Nozomi, stop tickling me! We need to find Maki!"

Nozomi smirked. "Hm? I thought you wanted to get revenge on Rin?"

Nico scowled. "Maki is the golden prize, right? Um, excuse me, but gold is basically the best!"

Nico did some strange arm movement that looked like she was sneezing.

"Is that a dance move or something?" Maki whispered.

"Shh! And it's called a dab!" Eli whispered back.

Nico, Nozomi, and Kotori were walking closer to the treehouse.

Maki bit her lip, her hand gripping the water gun tightly. _Maybe we should just hide._

Nico suddenly looked at the treehouse, which made Maki and Eli duck down quickly.

"Hey, look! A treehouse!" Nico hollered.

"Wow! Maki's mansion is so cool!" Kotori exclaimed.

Nico started snapping photos. "This would look great on my Instagram feed!"

"But, usually there would be a ladder to climb up into the tree," Nozomi's statement sent chills down Maki's spine. "Where is the ladder?"

Eli locked eyes with Maki. _3,_ she mouthed.

 _2._

 _1._

Eli bounced up and sprayed Kotori with water, Maki following, taking aim at Nico.

"KYAH! W-water?" Kotori squealed.

Nozomi looked to the treehouse. "Eli!"

"WHAT? Maki?" Nico looked at Maki. "Aren't you-hey!" Nico dodged Maki's spray of water. "Take this!" Nico tried to shoot Maki back but the water didn't really go very high. "What the-?"

Nozomi frowned at Nico. "Nico, do you know what gravity is?"

"Why of course I do- kYAH!" Nico dodged Maki's spray of water again.

Meanwhile, Eli was taking aim at Nozomi.

Nozomi, noticing this, grabbed Nico and ducked behind a tree.

A very sad Kotori followed behind. "I'm out..." Kotori murmured gloomily.

Eli knelt down next to Maki. "Okay, Maki, good job, but we still need to surprise them more. Let's make up a plan. Do you have any ideas?"

Maki gestured to a nearby tree. "They are most likely going to climb that tree. Let's set up a trap."

"Good idea." Eli peered out the window. "Nico and Nozomi are gone. I think they are coming back, though."

Maki took out the plastic water container within one of the small guns. "We'll set this up on a tree branch. When Nico climbs the water will spill from the shaking."

Eli nodded. "Nice. I'll set up the trap."

Maki watched Eli carefully climb down the treehouse (with the ladder) and climbed up the nearby tree. Eli balanced the water container on one of the branches and smoothly slid down the tree.

Soon, Eli was back up the treehouse. "Maki, if Rin's group comes, you aim at Honoka and I'll aim at Rin, okay?"

"Sure." Maki checked the time.

 _3:31 PM_

* * *

 **I do realize that I haven't written in a month, but I wanted to write a long chapter and it ended up taking too long. I split this chapter in half and the second part is going to be posted soon! Sorry for the really late chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15

Maki was bored. Really bored. Watching the birds fly by got boring really fast. _Where is everyone?_ Eli was still staring out the window intently, but Maki was already bored. _Maybe I'll just have a quick nap..._

"Hey, Maki?"

Maki opened her eyes again, but the sky was noticeably darker. "What time is it?"

"5 PM. No one has been here since Nico's gang. I think they are planning something."

"Maybe they are just shooting each other."

"I don't think so. Nozomi always has something up her sleeve. Let's just stay cautiou-."

"CHARGE!"

Maki looked out the window and saw everyone except Kotori waving their water guns around.

Eli looked at Maki. "Holy c-"

Maki pulled Eli down, and a splash of water harmlessly splashed onto the treehouse floor.

Rin had a garden hose.

A. GARDEN. HOSE.

"Cheating!" Eli gasped in horror.

Maki ducked as Rin tried to spray her. "Rin, this is cheating!"

Nico smirked. "Weell! You also cheated when you tried to shoot me!"

"But there were no rules about that!"

"Well, there were no rules about this either!"

Maki tried to shoot at Nico but she dodged and the water hit Hanayo instead.

"AHH! Aw, I'm out now..." Hanayo miserably walked away.

(Cue sad music) (Just kidding) (Okay, I'll stop breaking the fourth wall now)

Eli started shooting pretty much anyone she could see, but Nico, Rin, Honoka and Nozomi were pretty much unbeatable.

"Maki! Look!"

Maki saw Nozomi, Nico and Honoka scaling the trees nearby the treehouse, and Honoka got splashed by the trap Eli had set up a few seconds later.

"Gah! What the f-"

"Maki! Shoot Nico!" Eli cried as she took aim at Nozomi.

Maki tried to shoot Nico, but Nico was climbing the tree too fast.

"Argh! Nico, why'd you have to climb so fast?"

Nico reached the treehouse's height and clung on to the tree. "I'm not going to lose to you!"

"I won't either!" Maki shouted as she tried to shoot Nico. "I have a Master's in surgery, b-"

"Maki! Watch your language!" Eli cut in.

(Maybe Rin is just enjoying the show at this point)

Nico shot a spurt of water at Maki.

Maki ducked. "Ugh!"

Nico took aim at Maki. "Ha! Take that you scum!"

Maki dodged. "Screw you, Nico!" Maki tried to shoot Nico again but she was out of water.

 _Crap! I'm out of water!_

Maki reached for the spare water gun but Nico suddenly shot a rush of water at her.

"No!"

Eli pushed Maki out of the way, but she got hit by water from both Nozomi's and Nico's end.

"ELI!"

Eli sighed as the water soaked through her t-shirt. "I'm out. Good luck on your own, Maki."

Maki wanted to say something, but Nico's yelling reminded her that she needed to continue fighting in this war.

Maki nodded, and Eli winked back sneakily as she slipped down the treehouse.

Nozomi wasted no in shooting Maki, but Maki backed herself away from the windows. _Perhaps Eli has a plan... I need to stay in the game until then!_

Maki grabbed the backpack with the water guns and quickly climbed down the ladder at high speed, where Rin was waiting for her with a GARDEN HOSE.

"Yay! Friends!" Rin cheered as she aimed the hose at Maki.

Maki swiftly dodged as fast as she could and ran back into the maze entrance. _The other side of the garden!_

Maki knew Rin, Nico and Nozomi were following her, but Maki didn't care. She ran for her life through the intricate maze, praying in her mind that the others would get lost.

Soon, Maki was out the other side of the maze, but Maki kept running. _To the pool shed!_

Maki couldn't hear the footsteps of the other girls anymore, but Maki only stopped running when she got into the pool shed and hid behind some boxes. Only then did she realize that her phone was ringing from inside the backpack.

"Hello?"

"Maki!" Eli's voice was slightly relieved. "Are you out yet?"

"No."

"Thank goodness! I'm sending Umi to help you, so tell me where you are!"

Maki gasped. "Umi?

"Yes, Umi! Now tell me where you are, quickly!"

"I'm in the supply shed by the pool," Maki said. "Come quick!"

"Umi's on the way!"

A few minutes later, Umi threw open the door of the shed. "Maki!"

Umi closed the door and knelt down next to Maki. "Gosh, Maki. This game is so immature. I can't believe that Rin made you go through a water gun fight. We're all in our twenties, when is she going to stop acting like a 3-year old?"

Maki blinked. "Uh...it's fine, Umi. We just need to think of a plan to beat the remaining people-"

"Wait wait wait wait... why are you even playing this game with them?"

Maki sighed. "They made up a rule that I have to kiss one of the team members that won if I got wet."

Umi patted Maki's back. "That's rough, Maki. I feel your pain!"

"Thanks for the sympathy. Now then, shall we make up a plan? We don't have much time before they find us."

"Who's left in the game?" Umi asked.

"Rin, Nico, and Nozomi," Maki replied. "All very skilled at water guns."

Umi massaged her temples. "Hmm... Eli gave me her water gun and I filled it up in the bathroom. Do you have any water guns?"

Maki held up her backpack. "I have 3 more water guns in here but two are out of water, and only one of them is big. Oh, and I have an empty bucket of water."

Umi nodded. "We'll need to fill them up. Do we have a plan?"

Maki shook her head.

"I see. " Umi looked lost in thought for a moment. "Where do you think that Rin's group is right now?"

"They were chasing me out of the garden's maze. I lost them around the end of the maze."

"Okay." Umi clapped her hands lightly. "I have a plan."

"Really?"

"Yes. So first, Nozomi will most likely bring everyone here in a few minutes, because she's smart. When she comes, you hide in the shed with a bucket of water. I'll hide behind the shed with a garden hose, and when Nico, Nozomi and Rin come, I try to spray them with water."

Maki nodded. "Great. But how will I know if any of them are out?"

Umi frowned. "Hmm...oh! If one of them are out, I'll yell "nay!" If two of them are out, I'll yell "Hey!" and if all three of them are out, I'll tell you to come out."

"And what if none of them are out?"

"I'll scream. Anyways! When the remaining people move close to the shed, I'll yell "Gah!" and you can burst out the door and splash them with water."

Maki nodded. "And what if this plan fails?"

"If all else fails just push them into the pool."

Maki nodded again. "Got it. We should probably fill up the water guns and the buckets now."

"Yeah." Umi stood up and went outside the shed, Maki following close behind.

Maki dipped each water gun's water container into the pool and watched it fill up. "Umi, can you fill up the bucket?"

"Sure."

Umi started filling up the bucket, and soon enough, all the water guns were filled and the bucket was full to the brim.

Maki carried the water guns back into the shed and set up the bucket. "I'm ready."

Umi nodded and got into position.

Maki closed the shed door and waited with the bucket.

Soon enough, Rin's voice was heard.

"Where are they?"

"I think they should be here somewhere..." Nozomi said. "What the- KYAHH!"

Maki waited for Umi to scream.

"Nay!" Umi screamed.

 _That must mean Nozomi is the only one out_ , Maki thought.

"Gah!"

Upon hearing Umu's signal, Maki burst out the shed and splashed the bucket onto Nico.

"Maaaaaki! Ugh! I hate this game!"

Now Rin was the only person left in the game. "Maki, bringing Umi was a great idea. But!" Rin readied her water gun. "I'm not letting you win!" Rin pounced over at Maki.

Maki shot water at Rin, but she dodged multiple times. "Umi!"

Umi sprayed water from the hose but Rin dodged it.

Just when Maki decided that the game was never going to end, Rin suddenly grabbed Umi and chucked her into the pool.

 _Splat!_

(That's the sound of Umi bellyflopping into the water.)

Maki gasped. "What...?"

Rin laughed nervously. "Aha...sorry. I was bored with the game taking too long. You're next, Maki!"

Maki screamed and ran for her life. _RIN IS A SUMO WRESTLER!_ Maki thought frantically.

"Don't run from me, Maki! You know you can never go far!" Rin yelled.

"Don't stop running, Maki!" Umi (who had surfaced from the pool) encouraged. "You can do it!"

Maki looked behind her, just in time to see Rin grabbed her arm.

"AHHH!" Maki twirled her wrists to slip out of Rin's grasp (just as she was taught from self-defense classes!) and tried to push Rin away. "AHH!"

Rin realized Maki was pushing her nearer to the pool. "Oh no, you won't!" Rin tried to pull Maki into the pool, but Maki pushed Rin into the pool.

The problem was, Rin's hand was still wrapped around Maki's wrist.

 _SPLAT!_

Maki fell into the pool and surfaced after a few seconds. "Rin! Screw you!"

Rin started sobbing while floating in the pool. "Hu, hu, hu... I didn't win!"

Umi clapped at Maki. "Great job, Maki! You won!"

Maki shook her head as she pulled herself out of the pool. "I got wet. I lost."

"No, actually, Rin fell into the pool a split second before you, so technically you are the winner," Nozomi stated. "Congrats."

Rin continued crying. "Bu huhuhu! Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu!"

Maki started walking back into the house. "I'm going to shower."

* * *

 **And that concludes the water fight! I hope you enjoyed. From now on, I'm going to try to update every Sunday night. Please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

Maki wiped her hair with a warm towel. _I wonder how the script is going..._

"Ah, Maki." Eli stopped Maki as she was walking down the stairs. "Umi told me you won. Good job."

Maki nodded. "Thanks. How's the script?"

Eli smiled. "It's done. We still need you to double check, though."

"Wow, so fast," Maki frowned. "Are you guys really humans?"

Eli chuckled. "Anyways, I need you to go back to the working room with me after dinner."

"Sure."

Maki walked past Eli and entered the dining room, where everyone was already seated and talking excitedly.

"Oh, Maki!" Rin shouted without a hint of her earlier sadness. "You won, so choose your prize!"

Maki raised her eyebrow. "What prize?"

Nico glared at Maki as she talked. "Well, since _you_ won, you can choose to make us do anything you want."

" _Anything,"_ Nozomi whispered.

"Uh..." Maki thought about what she should ask for. _Maybe I should tell them to not bother me? Or maybe I should tell them not to drink alcohol for the rest of the trip._

"10..." Rin counted impatiently.

"9..."

Maki panicked inwardly. _No bothering or no alcohol? Gah! I can't choose!_

"8..."

 _Wait but what if I tell Nozomi to delete the videos of when I was drunk?_

"7..."

"6..."

Maki furrowed her brows. _Or maybe I should tell Nico to stop dragging me into her dumb videos! Ugh, there's too many to choose from!_

"5..."

"4..."

"3...Maki just choose already!" Rin hollered.

 _Should I ask them no to bother me or not to drink alcohol or to delete the videos or to-_

"2..." Rin continued counting.

 _Oh! I have a perfect idea! Rin will never find a way around this!_

"Gah!" Maki screamed. "Fine! Fine! I got it!"

"What is it?" Nozomi pressed.

"From now on until the end of this vacation...you guys ARE NOT ALLOWED TO bother me OR drink alcohol-"

Honoka let out a giant gasp.

"-OR drag me into Youtube videos AND Nozomi has to delete all the videos she took yesterday!"

"You're not allowed to request 4 things," Nozomi announced.

 _...And of course, they found a way around it._

Maki sighed. "Fine."

Honoka sighed in relief. "Thank goodness! What would we do without alcohol?"

Maki pondered over her choices. _If I told them not to bother me, no wait, shouldn't I think of what mother told me? She told me not to let my friends burn down our house._

"Okay, I've got it," Maki started.

Everyone except Eli (who was still upstairs) looked at Maki excitedly.

"From now on until the end of this vacation...you guys are not allowed to do stupid things that damage this house in any way. That includes not burning down the house."

Honoka nodded. "We'll take that into consideration."

Little did anyone know how tempted Nico was to burn down the mansion.

* * *

Maki stepped into the working room. "Eli, I'm here."

Eli, who was sitting at her laptop, turned her head to Maki. "Good. Here, sit next to me."

Maki walked up to Eli and sat on the chair next to her. "Have you printed the script?"

"No, because you need to check it first." Eli lifted the laptop and put it in front of Maki.

Maki scanned the script. "Wow, 80 pages?"

Eli shrugged. "We needed to make the play at least an hour, so..."

Maki read the first paragraph. "It's similar to what I envisioned so far...hm...oh!" Maki highlighted a long monologue of the princess's. "I don't think we should add this. Nico would be bored out of her mind."

Eli nodded. "We can delete it."

Maki pressed delete and carried on.

* * *

"You know, Eli," Maki said as she was about to leave the working room. "That script you guys wrote was really professional. Did you two...major in writing or something?"

Eli chuckled. "Ahaha... we both majored in business."

Maki gasped slightly at the sheer prodigiousness at her friends. _There are people like Eli...and then there's Nico._

* * *

 **And that's an update!**

 **...As short as it is.**


	17. Chapter 17

"Girls! So here's the plan!" Eli announced while clapping loudly to get everyone's attention.

Maki glanced at Eli.

"The script is finished, and Umi and I have made a schedule for what we have to do before showtime," Eli continued.

Umi nodded. "So here's the schedule!"

Umi held up a giant calendar. "Today is Wednesday the 17 of July! Nico's birthday is on the 22nd, on Monday, and we are leaving this vacation on Tuesday!"

"Which means that we have 5 days until the show," Eli said.

Honoka gasped. "Only 5 days?"

"Yes! So that's why we have set a very specific schedule to make everything work out," Eli declared with all the qualities of a leader. "As you may have noticed, today Kotori is missing!"

Immediately, Rin and Honoka began looking for Kotori.

"Er, Rin, Honoka, you guys aren't gonna find her. Kotori is currently taking Nico out to a spa for a full body treatment!"

"At my expense," Maki stated, annoyed.

"Anyways!" Eli continued. "They should be back in 4 hours! Umi and I have divided everyone into three teams; the main characters, the side characters and the stage crew." Eli clapped her hands. "Maki, Rin and I are the main characters so we will be in that corresponding team. Which means that the side characters will be in the side characters team, and so forth."

Rin scratched her head. "What?"

Hanayo lightly patted Rin's arm. "You're in the main character's team," she said.

"Now!" Eli declared. "The main characters will be working on memorizing their script here with me, the side characters will be working with Umi in her room, and the stage crew, well, Kotori's not here so the stage crew is kind of spread out. With that, Umi will report to me about our progress so no fooling around or Maki will take away your food!"

Maki frowned. _What?_

"After 4 hours, Nico should be back, so we will all have a very late lunch at 2 pm-"

"Lunch at 2 pm?" Honoka looked offended.

"-and then the side characters and stage crew will spend time with Nico at the beach or pool, while the main characters continue practicing their lines!" Eli finished.

Rin pouted. "Why? I wanna swim too!"

Eli glanced at Rin warningly. "Rin, it's because main characters have more lines so they need more practice."

* * *

Maki sat on her beanbag and gazed at the 80-page page long script. The first page already contained about 2 paragraphs spoken by her character, and there was much much more in the latter pages. _It's just like studying for my exams all over again_ , Maki thought painfully.

"Guys, so what do you think of the script?" Eli asked cheerfully.

Rin and Maki locked eyes and spoke at the same time.

"It's so long."

"It's too long!"

Eli sighed. "Well, let's just start with this first section, all right? So the princess talks about her upcoming birthday and how she will become of age to get married soon. Maki, why don't you read out that passage? Just the first paragraph."

Maki nodded. "As a princess, one gets many luxuries. Cakes, sweets, gold, jewelry, our wished shall be fulfilled. But like a double edged sword-"

"Cut! Maki, did you not see the sigh written in parenthesis? You need to sigh! Again!"

Maki gritted her teeth. "As a princess, one gets many luxuries. Cakes, sweets, gold, jewelry, our wished shall be fulfilled." Maki sighed sarcastically. "But like-"

"Cut! Maki, please take this more seriously!"

Rin giggled slightly.

Eli glared at Rin. "Rin, since you have nothing to do right now, why don't you take a look through your own lines?"

Rin nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Now, Maki! Again!"

Maki took a deep breath. "As a princess, one gets many luxuries. Cakes, sweets, gold, jewelry, our wished shall be fulfilled." Maki sighed deeply. "But like a double edged sword, princesses have many responsibilities. Our freedom is replaced with gold, and we are supposed to appreciate it." Maki melancholically glanced to the floor. "Comparable to handcuffs made of gold, I shall never reach my happiness and I must be married off to strengthen our kingdom."

Eli clapped her hands and cheered. "Much better, Maki! Keep acting like that and we'll have no problems at all. Now, Rin, let's see what you've got."

Rin paled. "Um...ok! So, w-what do you want me to say?"

Eli flipped the pages in her script. "Hmm...how about your first lines on page 7?"

Rin nodded. "Okay! Ever since I was a child, people have bowed to me!"

"Cut! Rin you're acting as a spoiled and mean jerk! Stop sounding so happy and innocent!"

Maki stifled a laugh.

"Oh, ok then. Ever since I was a child, people have bowed to me. I'm used to seeing their bent necks, and it's tempting...to slice...their necks..." Rin looked at her script in horror...and then in glee. "Ah, yea! Evil bloody guy!"

Eli massaged her temples. "Alright, Rin. Let's try that part again, and don't interrupt yourself."

"Ok! Ever since I was a child, people have bowed to me. I'm used to seeing their bent necks, and it's tempting to slice their necks." Rin laughed in an unconvincing manner. "Their lives are worthless anyway-"

"Cut!" Eli interrupted.

"What?" Rin whined.

"Your laugh is too innocent! Try laughing in a more dark manner!"

"Mwahahahaha!" Rin laughed.

Eli shook her head. "No. Maki, demonstrate!"

Maki looked into Rin's eyes and laughed out her darkest desires. "Hee.. hee.. hee.. heE... hEE... HEE..HHHEEE...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!"

Rin looked fearful for her life. "..."

Eli nodded. "See, I knew Maki would be able to do it. High five, Maki!"

Eli held up her palm and Maki slapped it lightly.

 _How did she know about my evil laugh?_ Maki wondered. _Eli is creepy sometimes._

Eli smiled. "Now, Rin, try that line again."

Over the next hour, Maki and Rin spent their time acting out certain lines with Eli and getting a general feel of their character.

* * *

"Okay, so now we are going to try something a little different," Eli said. "Everyone, stand up. We are going act in the actual positions we would on the stage. So Maki, do that first paragraph again, but this time, stand on the couch and pretend that it's the balcony."

Maki climbed onto the couch. At this point, she had already memorized the paragraph. Maki stood carefully and placed her hand on the place where you would normally lean on the couch. "As a princess, one gets many luxuries," Maki started.

"Cakes, sweets, gold, jewelry, our wished shall always be fulfilled." Maki sighed deeply as she looked up at the nonexistent night sky.

"But like a double edged sword, princesses have many responsibilities. Our freedom is replaced with gold, and we are supposed to appreciate it." Maki melancholically glanced to the floor.

"Comparable to handcuffs made of gold, I shall never reach my happiness and I must be married off to strengthen our kingdom," Maki said as she crumbled to the floor dramatically.

Eli nodded. "That was pretty good, but I think you should walk off the balcony instead of falling to the floor. Also, I forgot to tell you guys but I added a bunch of extra characters who only appear one or twice. Umi and I will be playing those extras so don't worry about them."

Maki nodded. "Can we practice a scene with all three of us?"

Rin exclaimed, "Oh, that would be fun!"

Eli nodded. "Sure thing, guys. How about the scene where I come to rescue Maki?"

Rin nodded. "Yeaahh!"

Eli stood up and gestured for everyone to do the same. "Maki you go lie down on the floor...there. Rin, use this pen and pretend it's a sword. I'm gonna be outside and come in just when you are about to stab Maki, okay?"

Rin nodded. "Okay!"

Eli left the room holding her script in her hand while Maki lay on the floor holding her script.

Rin read from her script as she held up her pen. "You never give up, do you? You will never truly make the perfect woman."

Rin positioned her pen over Maki's chest. "Such a shame. Your face is so pretty. I suppose you'll die a useless damsel in distress-"

Eli burst through the room. "Princess!?"

Swiftly, Eli shoved Rin to the floor and scooped up Maki with little difficulty.

"CUT!" Rin yelled. "Eli, that kind of hurt!"

Eli put Maki back down. "I'm sorry, Rin, but it couldn't be helped."

"Eli, you're actually really strong," Maki said. "I'm quite heavy, how did you lift me like that?"

Eli shrugged. "I don't know. Anyways, we should be practicing other scenes..."

* * *

"So, was your practice?" Umi asked Maki a few minutes after the practice was over.

"Er, great. Eli was a bit harsh but we're making progress," Maki replied.

Umi nodded. "Honoka was actually really good at acting. A hidden talent, maybe?"

"Well, she is Honoka, after all."

Maki walked down the stairs into the dining room, where a great feast and Nico were waiting.

"Maki! About time you came. I wanna go hiking!"

Maki took the seat farthest away from Nico. "I know there's a hiking trail not far away. You'll have to walk a lot, though."

Nico pouted. "I don't care! I'm good at hiking! Eli!"

Eli had just entered the room with Honoka and Hanayo.

Eli sat next to Maki. "What, Nico?"

"Can we all go hiking together?"

"Hiking? Er, maybe tomorrow. The weather forecast says it might rain soon."

Maki sighed. _Nice quick thinking!_ Maki thought.

"But it says it's sunny today. Look!" Nico held up her phone.

"Really?" Eli looked like she was thinking of ideas. "Well, um, we should go! Totally! But not all of us."

"Why not?"

"Because, well, it won't be very convenient to hike with 9 people. So maybe only some of us should go."

"Okay."

Eli looked relieved, and Maki sighed.

 _I wonder if Nico will ever find out about the surprise._

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this update! It pretty much wrote itself.**

 **I try to update every Sunday (or Saturday depending on where you live).**

 **Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

"Maki, Kotori needs to do practice doing your hair and makeup. Can you come here?" Eli called from the other side of the working room.

Maki strode over to Kotori. "Alright, I'm here. What are we doing?"

It was already the next day, and Nico was still on her overnight hike with Honoka, Rin, and Hanayo.

Kotori gestured to the chair in front of her. "Sit. Eli, we need to do the hairstyle the Princess has, in the beginning, right?"

Eli nodded. "Right, because the play starts right before a grand ball the princess needs to have an elegant hairstyle."

"But I thought we already did that hairstyle?" Maki asked as she took a seat in front of Kotori.

"Yes," Eli said. "But I have sketched out another version of it. Kotori, do you still have the pictures of the old hairstyle?"

Kotori nodded. "It's on my phone."

"Good. So we can compare the two later. Maki sit still." Eli held up a paper to Kotori. "Here it is."

Kotori rummaged in her bag of hair supplies and pulled out a bunch of bobby pins. "Alright."

"Wait, can I see that picture?" Maki suddenly asked.

Eli handed the sketch to Maki.

It was a sketch of an elegant twisted hair bun with a purple rose shaped pin.

Maki frowned. "It looks just like last time."

Eli sighed. "It's not the same, okay? This one will be easier to mess up for the later scenes."

"Where are we going to get the rose pin?" Maki asked.

"I have it," Kotori replied. "I made it last night. Let's just start."

Kotori brushed and sprayed Maki's hair; started braiding Maki's hair and did a combination of complicated twists and twirls to form a bun.

After what seemed like an hour, Maki's hair was complete.

"Here, a mirror." Kotori handed Maki a mirror. "Eli, what do you think?"

Eli studied Maki's hair, just as intently as Maki was looking into the mirror.

"Hmm..."

"It looks just like last time," Maki stated, annoyed.

Eli sighed. "Kotori, take a photo of this. And Maki, no, it's not the same. Kotori, show me the pictures."

Kotori handed Eli her phone.

"See?" Eli showed the old picture to Maki. "Last time your hair wasn't curled and didn't have the little braids. The curls would help make your hair a bit more messy for the later scenes so it's better."

Mako frowned. _That's it?_

Eli turned to Kotori. "Kotori, can you mess up Maki's hair?"

Kotori nodded. "For the imprisoned scene right?"

"Yes," Eli replied.

Kotori removed the rose hairpin from Maki's hair and gently loosened Maki's hair bun with a comb. Then, she messed up Maki hair slightly.

"How's this, Eli?" Kotori asked.

Eli nodded in approval. "Looks good. Take a photo, too."

Kotori snapped a quick photo. "I think it's a bit too messy, though. You said the princess has nice hair, right?"

Eli nodded. "That's true. Maybe we should brush it a bit."

"Like this?" Kotori ran a brush through Maki's hair a few times.

"Yes, yes. Ah, don't forget to take a photo."

Kotori took another picture. "Maki, what do you think?"

Maki turned to face Eli and Kotori from her chair. "Nico is definitely going to blackmail me with photos after this."

Eli chuckled nervously. "You don't look bad! It won't be blackmail material."

* * *

Maki sat down at the dining table. "Well, Eli, what's our plan after lunch?"

"Hm, let's see..." Eli scrolled through her phone. "I have a picture of our schedule in here...ah!" Eli showed her phone to Maki. "Dress hunt."

Maki frowned. "What's that?"

"To put it simply," Umi said. "Dress hunt is looking for the needed costumes. In this case, most of them will be dresses."

Kotori held up her notebook. "I already have the list of every costume we need, but today I want to focus on you and Nozomi."

Maki nodded. "I see. Well, um, do you want to have a look in my closet? I might have something you need..."

"That would be great!" Kotori said with a smile. "Let's go after lunch."

* * *

After lunch, Maki led Eli, Kotori, Umi, and Nozomi into her bedroom.

"My closet is here." Maki opened a sliding door to reveal a spacious walk-in closet full of clothes.

"Wow...You never fail to surprise me, Maki." Eli sighed.

 _The one at my actual home is much bigger,_ Maki thought.

Nozomi immediately began looking for Maki's underwear drawer. "I'm sure it would be here somewhere...ah!"

Maki grabbed Nozomi's arms and pulled her out of the closet. "Nozomi, stop it. Please."

Kotori chuckled nervously. "Well, uh, why don't we get started?"

Maki let go of Nozomi's arms and followed Kotori back into the closet.

"So I need a formal red dress for the first scene and a white dress for the wedding scene at the end..." Kotori trailed off as she scanned the closet.

Maki strode over to a rack full of dresses. "Will any of these work?"

Eli looked through the dresses and pulled out a long red dress. "How about this one?"

Kotori studied the dress. "Hm...it's a bit too simple but I think I can alter it and add some roses...Oh!"

Kotori turned to Maki. "These dresses are old, right? I'll have to alter them to fit you again."

Maki nodded. "And for the wedding dress...I have this old dress..." Maki rummaged through her dress and pulled out a simple white dress. "I don't really wear white that often, so this is the best I have."

Kotori scrutinized the dress carefully. "I think it'll be fine with a bit of altering...it's also a bit too short so I'm going to add more layers underneath...alright. Now for the last outfit, we need a black dress that's kind of short..."

Maki pulled out a knee length black dress. "How's this?"

Kotori nodded. "That's fine."

"Maki, just asking, but why do you have so many dresses in this house?" Eli asked. "Since, this is just your vacation home..."

"My parents often hold parties here," Maki replied.

"I see." Eli turned to Kotori. "Let's move on to Nozomi."

* * *

 **I know that this wasn't a very long update, and I apologize.**

 **Anyways, we are nearing the show, and I will try to finish it by Sunday.**

 **Please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Before you read this chapter, be sure to know the characters our girls are playing in the play.**

 **Maki- Princess Amornia**

 **Eli- Elise, extra during ballroom scene**

 **Rin- Prince Vorit and Bob**

 **Honoka- The King and Bread**

 **Nozomi- The Queen**

 **Hanayo- Rice**

 **Umi- Duchess Miranda, Vorit's servant, Elise's acquaintance, Elise's friend-who-sells-swords, Random Guard, Wedding vow person?**

 **Kotori- Backstage worker**

 **Nico- (She's the one watching the play)**

 **I don't know if this chapter will be confusing or not, but I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Kotori hastily brushed Maki's face with powder and started working on eyeshadow. "Eli, how much time left until Nico comes?"

"15 minutes. Umi said she's showering."

Maki winced slightly as Kotori curled her lashes and added mascara. "Kotori, is this really necessary?"

Kotori sighed. "Of course it is, we practiced this multiple times!"

It was finally the day of the show, and Maki was sitting in the workroom-turned-dressing-room. The play was going to be held in a mini-theatre on the 4th floor, fully equipped with a small backstage.

"Okay, Maki, you're all set. Now stand up so you can put on the dress," Kotori said.

Maki stood up and looked at herself in a mirror. "So much glitter..."

"It's stage makeup, okay? It needs to be obvious." Kotori held up an elegant dark red ballroom dress adorned with fabric roses, completely transformed from what it was before. "Let me help you get into this dress."

Maki nodded, and a few moments later Maki walking around with the dress trailing behind her slightly.

"Beautiful," Eli said. "Are you confident in those heels?"

Maki nodded. "I haven't worn them in a while but I think I'll be okay."

Kotori nodded to Maki. "Okay, you're done so go upstairs into the backstage and wait there until everyone is done. I need to do Rin's makeup!"

Eli smiled. "You heard her."

Maki nodded and carefully walked up the stairs into the mini-theatre, where Umi was standing on the empty stage reading off her clipboard.

"Oh, you look nice, Maki."

"Ah...thanks. When's Nico coming?"

"By my estimate,...about 11 minutes? Something like that, " Umi replied.

"What should I do now?" Maki asked.

"Right now, Nozomi and Honoka are ready to go, so you should join them and practice some more lines," Umi said. "They are backstage."

Maki walked into the small backstage area behind the curtains and gasped slightly.

"Ho ho ho, my children... my Princess.."

Honoka was wearing a fake beard and a giant yellow crown. "Amornia! You are my child!"

Nozomi giggled behind Honoka. "'She wanted to practice her character before the show."

Maki took a step back. "Uh, Honoka? That's not what the king is like."

Honoka's eyes widened. "Then I've been practicing him wrong the whole time?"

Maki sighed. "I saw you in practice yesterday, you were fine. I think it's just because you are nervous that you're...acting like like this.

Nozomi stepped towards Maki, giving Maki a full view of her elegant purple gown. "Honoka, don't worry you've practiced your roles for hours."

Suddenly, Hanayo came dashing into the area. "Guys! Nico's on the way!"

Honoka gasped loudly. "AHH! We are so dead!"

Maki watched Honoka cling onto Nozomi, fake sobbing. "Honoka, you're in Scene Two. Stand up and get ready," Nozomi said.

Maki watched as Eli dashed into the backstage with Rin, Kotori, and Umi.

"Everyone! Get ready! Umi will deliver the opening speech!" Eli declared.

Eli nodded to Umi and Umi elegantly walked onto the stage, dressed in a long flowy dress.

Umi took her place at the front of the stage and spoke. "Good afternoon, everyone. We are gathered here to perform a play that my friends and I have been preparing for our great friend, Nico's birthday." Umi smiled at Nico, who was sitting in front with some maids and butlers. "We would also like to address this play for the wonderful staff of this mansion, thank you very much. Now, let's get on with Scene One!"

Eli flicked the light switch off as Maki quickly positioned herself on the stage.

The lights were turned on, and Maki stood silently for a few seconds. _What the heck am I doing?_

"As a princess, one gets many luxuries," Maki started. "Cakes, sweets, gold, jewelry, our wished shall be fulfilled."

Maki sighed deeply. "But like a double edged sword, princesses have many responsibilities. Our freedom is replaced with gold, and we are supposed to appreciate it." Maki melancholically glanced to the floor. "Comparable to handcuffs made of gold, I shall never reach my happiness and I must be married off to strengthen our kingdom."

Maki collapsed to the floor and the lights went out.

Maki rushed backstage and Rin scrambled on stage.

Kotori flicked the light switch again and hurriedly turned to Maki.

"You need a touch-up! Sit down!" Kotori whispered.

Maki sat front of Kotori and watched Rin as Kotori brushed her face with more powder.

"Ever since I was a child, people have bowed to me. I'm used to seeing their bent necks, and it's tempting to slice their necks." Rin laughed evilly. "Their lives are worthless anyway."

Rin turned to the side of the stage. "Tell me, who is the most beautiful maiden in the world?"

Umi replied from the backstage, acting as a servant. "Your concubines."

Rin slammed her hand on a random table. "I AM NOT SATISFIED! I deserve only the best! YOU! TELL ME!"

"Okay, you're done," Kotori whispered to Maki.

Maki continued watching Rin and Umi. _Rin's super into her character._

"Oh, well how about this maiden?" Umi said. "She's a princess from a neighboring kingdom and is said to be the most beautiful lady in the world."

"Her name?" Rin asked.

"Princess Amornia."

"Interesting. Well then, write a letter to the King of that domain and tell him to give me his daughter."

"Prince Vorit...the Princess is engaged to Prince Theodore of Revada."

"THEN KIDNAP HER!" Rin bellowed, and the lights went off.

Under the cover of darkness, Maki swiftly took her position on the stage while Honoka and Nozomi hurried onto the stage along with Eli and Umi who were both in dresses and masquerade masks.

The lights were on again, and Maki started walking towards the center of the stage.

"Amornia! Perfect timing!" Honoka exclaimed. "Meet my daughter, Princess Amornia," Honoka said to a masked Umi.

 _Umi is acting as so many extras!_ Maki thought.

Umi bowed to Maki. "It is an honour to meet you, princess."

Maki bowed lightly. "The pleasure is all mine."

"Amornia, this is Miranda, the new Duchess of Thebes," Honoka said.

Maki smiled at Umi.

Ballroom music was played and Maki gently swayed with the music while Umi danced with Eli.

Nozomi approached Maki. "Amornia, we have finalized the plans for your marriage to the Prince of Revada."

Maki sighed lightly. "Yes, mother."

"You are going to be married in Revada, in the grand palace," Honoka said in a fake man voice. "Prince Theodore is very excited for it."

Maki shuddered very realistically. "Yes, father."

The music slowly faded and the lights went off again, where everyone except Maki hurried off stage.

When the lights came back, Maki was slowly walking along the side of the stage. "As it turns out, Prince Theodore is 3 years older than me and is a dense, unpleasant person."

Maki sighed. "Perhaps I shall never reach my freedom..."

Maki knew that Umi was supposed to capture her in the play, but it didn't stop Maki from gasping for real when Umi suddenly threw a giant sack over her from behind.

Maki squirmed from inside the sack (which was really just a stitched up blanket). "Ah! Guards!"

Umi, with intense strength, threw Maki over her shoulder and started walking off stage.

Then the lights went out.

Backstage, Eli was desperately untying the sack. "Maki! Hurry up! We need to re-do your hair!"

Maki hurriedly crawled out of the sack and sat on a chair.

Kotori hurriedly loosened Maki's hair bun as the lights went on again and Nozomi started talking frantically.

"Dear! Amornia is gone!"

"WHAT?" Honoka gasped. "She's not in the castle?"No, no...

"No... the maids have been looking everywhere for her!"

Honoka gently Nozomi's shoulder. "It'll be fine, I'm sure. Amornia is a smart girl after all. She might just be exploring the castle a bit more."

"Maki, you're done," Kotori whispered.

Maki look at her new hairstyle, wavy and a bit messy. "Okay."

Nozomi paced around the stage nervously. "What if we don't find her?"

 _Nozomi's good at acting_ , Maki thought.

"We'll find her," Honoka reassured. "Of course we will, right?"

Kotori switched off the lights again and Maki quickly positioned herself in the center of the stage.

Once the lights were on again, Maki was lying on the floor.

"Huh?" Maki sat up. "Where am I?"

 _What am I doing?_ Maki thought.

"It seems you have awoken."

Rin stepped from the stage wings. "Hmm...you certainly are beautiful. Perhaps not as beautiful as I thought, but still beautiful."

Maki tried her best not to laugh. "Who are you?"

Rin cleared her throat. "I am Prince Vorit."

Maki widened her eyes. "Y-you!? What do you want from me?"

Maki heard Nico's laughing from the audience.

 _Damn it, Nico._

"Well," Rin started. "You are to become my betrothed in 15 days."

Maki stood up. "No. Kill me, torture me, humiliate me, but I shall not become your betrothed."

Rin slapped Maki's face (softly, but Eli played a sound effect that made it seem REALLY HARD). "I see. Well, have fun in the dungeons before our marriage."

Rin started walking away, but Maki spoke.

"Can you let me go?"

Rin stopped walking. "Let you go?" Rin laughed maniacally. "After all that effort to bring you here, you think I would simply let you go?"

"Answer me."

Rin chuckled. "If you really want an answer; no. Never. Over my dead body."

Rin started marching away into the backstage while Maki crumbled to the floor.

"What will I do? Father and Mother would be worried sick. The guards would go everywhere, but will they find me?" Maki tightened her fist. "I must escape."

The lights went off and Maki dashed off stage where she was immediately pulled into a chair by Kotori. "Stay still, Maki! You won't be until Act II so let me re-do your makeup!"

Maki stayed still as Kotori contoured her face until she looked gaunt, and then added a few bruises on her jawline with FX makeup.

"The princess is missing!" Honoka announced on stage. "Any man who finds her wins her hand in marriage!"

Honoka turned to Nozomi and softly spoke, "Don't worry, dear. She will be back before you know."

Honoka and Nozomi exited the stage and Eli walked onstage.

"Huh? Our princess is missing?" Eli gasped. "We must find her!"

Umi, acting as an extra, snorted. "You? You are homeless, broke, and filthy. You can't even save yourself, let alone save our _princess._ "

Eli frowned. "Say what you what. I'm going to make money and save the princess."

All of a sudden Rin quickly rushed past Maki on stage, dressed in casual clothing. "Did you say money? We are recruiting haunted house workers right now at the CHEECHU haunted house! Would you like to come and work? 15 coins an hour!"

Eli's face lit up. "Really? That would be great!"

Kotori switched the lights off again, and everyone rushed off stage.

"Maki, you're done. Eli, go get changed now!"

Maki stood up off the chair and looked at herself in the mirror. Maki's face appeared to be gaunt, slightly sweaty and bruised. _Kotori knows what she's doing..._

Honoka entered the stage with Nozomi.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Honoka said. "Our daughter is smart after all."

Nozomi sighed miserably. "If she's smart, why would she disappear? She must have been captured."

Honoka patted Nozomi's back. "Don't worry, dear. Have faith in Amornia."

Eli, now changed into a ghost costume, walked past Maki closer to the stage.

Kotori flicked off the lights and Eli immediately dashed on stage on stage with a sack, 2 water bottles, and some fake fruits. Eli placed the props on one end of the stage, and the lights were turned on.

"Good work today everyone!" Rin called. "Elise! Come here!"

Eli jogged up to Rin. "Hello, Manager!"

Rin handed Eli a few fake coins. "Here is your pay for the week, 150 coins. You did really well even though it's your first week... are you coming back next week?"

Eli shook her head nervously. "Er, I was working to buy some stuff. Now that I have enough money, I don't think I'll be coming back."

Rin nodded. "Well...understandable. It was nice working with you here at the CHECHU HAUNTED HOUSE this week! You're welcome back anytime."

Rin exited the stage and Umi walked up with 5 fake swords in her hand.

"Hey, Elise. You wanted to buy one of my swords right?"

Eli nodded. "Yes! Which one would you recommend?"

"Hmm..." Umi scratched her head. "Perhaps this one?" Umi held up a long sword with a black handle. "It's lightweight and pretty sturdy. But it's a bit pricey."

"How much is it?"

"100 coins."

Eli handed Umi some of her coins. "I would like to buy it."

Umi handed Eli the sword. "Be careful, though. If it's mistreated, it will break."

Eli nodded. "Thanks."

Umi walked off the stage while Eli approached the sack, water bottles and fake fruits she had set up before.

"I'll need these," Eli mumbled to herself as she placed each prop into the sack. Eli fastened the sack to her back and stood up.

"Princess, here I come!"

Eli exited the stage and Umi reentered.

"Act one has now ended. We are going to have a 10-minute break before Act Two."

Backstage, Kotori was rushing around, doing people's makeup and shoving outfits at people.

"Hanayo, stop talking!" Kotori exclaimed. "Maki, have you changed- why haven't you changed? You had so much time!"

Maki nodded slowly. "Er, I'll change now."

"And Eli, let me re-do your makeup!"

Maki slipped behind a curtain and put on a short black dress.

When Maki walked back out, the backstage area was in chaos.

Kotori was frantically slapping makeup on Umi, Hanayo was chatting with Hanayo, Eli was yelling instructions to Rin, and Nozomi was sleeping on the floor.

"Um...guys?"

Kotori turned to Maki and gasped loudly. "M-MAKI! You're wearing the wrong dress!"

Maki's eyes widened. "What?"

Kotori shoved another black dress at Maki. "Change, quick! You're on in 2 minutes!"

Maki was pushed behind another curtain and started changing immediately. "But what's wrong with this dress?"

"It's not the right design! That dress is Umi's outfit. And we need to tie up your hands!"

Maki finished changing and was grabbed by the wrists by Eli.

"You're already late!" Eli exclaimed as she loosely tied ropes around Maki's hands. "Go!

Maki hurriedly got on stage and sat on the sofa previously set up, just in time as Kotori switched on the light. _That was nerve-racking..._

Maki looked around. "No guards...this is my chance!"

Maki bit off the ropes hastily and hid behind the sofa. Carefully, Maki started crawling towards the backstage.

Suddenly Rin walked on stage. "You- wait. Where is she?"

Maki hid behind the other side of the sofa, but Rin shoved away the sofa.

"Trying to escape?"

Maki froze.

Rin smiled at Maki. "That dress does look very nice on you. Too bad you aren't submissive."

Rin chuckled and bent down in front of Maki. "Tell me, Amornia. How are you going to get away? This place is surrounded by guards." Rin grabbed Maki's face. "Answer me."

Maki avoided eye contact.

"ANSWER ME!" Rin forced Maki to the ground.

Maki coughed. "Just you wait," Maki whispered. "I'll kill you."

Rin laughed. "Really? You? A spoiled little princess?" Rin slammed her fist into Maki's stomach (lightly I would hope). "I would like to see you tr-"

Maki slapped Rin's face.

"JUST YOU WAIT! I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU DESERVE! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Maki screamed.

Rin chuckled. "What I've done? What have I done?" Rin turned away from the audience to hide her genuine laughter. "W-well."

"What you've done? Treating people like dirt, mistreating women, CAPTURING ME, beating me and forcing me to marry you." Maki swallowed down her laughter. "Are you satisfied yet, Vorit?"

Rin cleared her throat. "Am I?"

Maki stood up. "I will not stop trying. I will keep trying to escape. Until you realize how foolish you are and let me go, I WILL NOT GIVE UP!"

 _These lines are too cheesy._

Maki swung her fist towards Rin's face but Rin grabbed Maki's hand and slammed her to the floor.

 _Ouch. Rin is too into her role._

"Agh!"

Rin laughed. "AHAHAHAHAHA! Your face is much more beautiful in pain!"

Maki fake sobbed silently.

The lights went off and Maki hurried off stage.

When the lights were on again, there was a table set up on one side of the stage. On the table was 3 bowls and standing behind the table was Honoka and Hanayo, dressed in matching headbands and t-shirts.

Eli was standing on the other side of the stage, a book in her hand. "Hmm, according to this book, Princess Amornia is the most beautiful maiden in the land. And...there are plenty princes who want to marry her, but the most immoral of them all would be...Prince Vorit."

Eli slammed her book shut and grabbed her sack. "That's it! The princess must be captured by Prince Vorit! I must leave for that kingdom immediately!"

Eli walked around the stage, mimicking traveling. As Eli was walking closer to Honoka and Hanayo, Honoka cried out, "Hey!"

"Huh?" Eli turned to Honoka. "What do you want?"

"Do you want to join our eating contest? Winner gets 50 gold, loser pays 25!"

Eli tapped her chin. "Hmm...I do need some pocket money...okay sure!"

Hanayo gestured to the rice bowls set up on the table. "The person who finished eating their bowl of rice first wins!"

Eli walked behind the table and positioned one of the bowls in front of her. "Okay!"

"Alright, now on the count of three," Honoka started. "3...2...1...GO!"

Honoka and Hanayo started to eat their rice, but Eli scarfed down all the rice in seconds.

"Done!"

Honoka and Hanayo gawked at Eli in shock. "W-what?"

(Of course, this situation would never happen in real life because Hanayo and Honoka are _pro-eaters_ ).

"Pay up!" Eli exclaimed.

Reluctantly, Hanayo handed Eli a few coins. "Here you go..."

Eli flashed at smile at Hanayo. "Thanks! Now, I'll be off."

The lights went off and everyone hurried backstage.

"Honoka! Your cape!" Kotori whispered, throwing Honoka a red cape that she draped over her shoulders.

Eli was dragging the table off stage while Umi ran past with the rice bowls.

 _Why is everyone working so hard?_ Maki thought. _Nico should be pretty darn honoured._

When the lights were on again, Honoka was standing with a sobbing Nozomi.

"It's been 2 weeks!" Nozomi cried. "When will we her?"

Honoka looked hopeless. "I'm sure we'll find her. Young men in the kingdom are searching for her, after all. Have faith in our people," Honoka said, despite looking a bit unsure.

Nozomi started falling to the floor. "Oh...I don't feel so good."

Honoka darted to Nozomi. "Noz-Dear!"

"She almost said Nozomi!" Eli whispered to Maki.

Honoka caught Nozomi before she fell to the floor. "We need the nurse! Guards!"

The light went off and Eli re-entered the stage, alone.

"I've been walking for days."

Eli sighed. "When will I get there? It's already been 2 weeks."

Eli gasped and stared into the other side of the stage. "What is that? The black castle?"

Eli started running into the opposite stage wing. "Finally! I am here!"

The lights went off and Eli ran back into the backstage.

"Maki, get ready, you'll be on soon," Eli said to Maki as Umi pushed a mattress onto the stage.

When the lights were on, Nozomi was lying on the mattress.

"Dear, please get better," Honoka said. "I don't want to lose you too..."

Umi, acting as a nurse, spoke," Your royal highness...Her highness is not physically unwell. It may be a mental problem."

Honoka sighed deeply. "Do you think she'll be alright?"

Umi nodded slowly. "Perhaps with time she shall."

Kotori flicked off the light.

Maki scrambled on stage and quickly positioned herself on the floor as Umi dragged the mattress off stage.

When the lights were turned on, Maki was lying on the floor.

"Today is the final day."

Rin walked on stage.

"Will you marry me? Or will you die?"

Maki stood up and locked eyes with Rin (trying not to laugh). "Vorit. I've made my decision the second I've woken up, and there is nothing you can do to change my mind."

Maki clenched her fist. "I would rather die."

Rin chuckled cheerfully (probably genuinely too). "Ahahaha! I suppose your pride wins, huh?"

Rin stopped smiling. "But, you know, if you marry me, you could live...but I guess you'd rather die."

"You never give up, do you? You will never truly make the perfect woman."

Rin positioned her rapier in a thrust. "Such a shame. Your face is so pretty."

"For some reason," Maki stated. "I do not feel flattered at all. Go on, kill me."

Rin raised her rapier. "Well, here goes."

Maki closed her eyes, and just as the (fake) sword was about to hit her, Eli burst onto the stage.

"Princess!?"

Swiftly, Eli shoved Rin to the floor and scooped up Maki with little difficulty.

"Princess, are you harmed?" Eli asked.

"No, who...?" Maki trailed off.

"Who are you?" Rin asked, glaring at Eli.

Eli set Maki back down. "I am Elise. Here to rescue our beloved princess."

"Good luck with THAT!" Rin shouted as she raised her rapier and charged at Eli.

Eli started parrying with Rin. "Princess! Get back!"

Maki stepped back and watched nervously. _The lines are cheesy but Nico is probably dumb enough to like these things..._

"That girl is mine now! Besides you're no match for me!" Rin shouted.

"Am I?" Eli smiled and swung a powerful roundhouse kick at Rin's waist.

Rin fell to the floor and coughed. "You fight dirty."

"Anything for my kingdom."

Eli raised her sword. "Goodbye-"

"Wait!"

Maki dashed up to Rin. "I need to do something."

Maki kicked Rin's face. "I hope you've learned your lesson, _Vorit._ "

Eli stabbed Rin.

The lights went out and Maki went backstage.

"Maki! The wedding dress!" Kotori exclaimed.

Maki nodded and quickly changed into a beautiful white dress behind a curtain.

"Maki! Makeup!" Kotori shoved Maki into a chair and began wiping Maki's face with makeup remover vigorously.

Meanwhile, Honoka was sitting next to Nozomi-lying-on-a-mattress onstage.

"My dear...do not lose hope...You must stay strong." Honoka whispered. "Amornia could be walking into our door any second now."

Nozomi smiled weakly. "I hope so..."

Suddenly, Umi dashed into the room and bowed quickly at Honoka. "Your highness! Princess Amornia has returned with her savior!"

Honoka and Nozomi gasped. "Who?"

Eli walked into the room sheepishly. "Myself...your highness."

Honoka ran up and hugged Eli. "Thank you! W-where was she?"

Eli spoke, "Princess Amornia was captured by Prince Vorit."

The lights went out and Maki stood and waited for Eli to change into a tuxedo.

 _ELI CHANGED IN 30 SECONDS!_

Maki linked arms with Eli and entered the stage as the lights went on.

Both took their place at the center and Umi stood between them. "Do you, Elise, take Her Highness Amornia to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Eli said.

"And do you, Princess Amornia, take Elise to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Maki said blankly.

"Now by the power vested in me by the Kingdom, it is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal this declaration with a kiss."

Eli carefully held Maki's face and leaned in closer and closer...until they were millimeters apart...

Then Kotori shut off the lights and Maki separated from Eli.

A few second later, the lights were on again, with no one onstage.

Hanayo walked into the center of the stage with Rin. Both took their place in the center of the stage and bowed to light applause and great laughter from Nico.

Next, Kotori calmly walked out and bowed to some more applause.

Umi shyly scrambled onstage and bowed to great applause.

Honoka and Nozomi walked out together, bowing to moderate applause.

Lastly, Maki and Eli walked out together hand in hand. Maki bowed next to Eli to thundering applause.

Eli began speaking. "I would like to thank everyone for taking your precious time to watch our production. Everyone here performed beautifully for our dear friend Nico, who we would like to invite onstage."

Nico looked confused. "What?"

Eli smiled. "Come on, Nico!"

Nico climbed onto the stage hesitantly. "Um...hi!"

Eli gave Nico a big hug. "Happy birthday, Nico!"

There was applause and Maki stood awkwardly.

Umi started talking, "Yes, and it was only because of Eli, who wrote the script me, and Kotori, who handled all the costume, makeup, and hair work, that we were able to make this play possible!"

More applause.

"And of course, we can't forget Maki, who provided all of the resources as well as working hard for this play!" Umi exclaimed.

More applause.

Nico eyes watered. "Guys...I can't believe you did all this for me... I DESERVE IT!"

Great laughter exploded across the room.

"Er...Nico, yeah," Maki mumbled.

* * *

 **And...that's an update!**

 **Okay, I do know that this chapter took almost a month, but I really wanted to make the play in one chapter and it ended up...over 4000 words...**

 **The next update will be up next Sunday as usual, I hope.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and please review!**


	20. Chapter 20

Maki's car door opened and Maki walked out with her suitcase.

"Welcome home, Miss Maki," greeted a few maids and butler.

Maki smiled. "I'm going to my room."

"Yes, please do," Maki's head maid said.

Maki left her suitcase to one of her servants and walked into her mansion. _I'm so glad that was over._

"Ah! Maki!"

Maki looked up at her mother. "Oh, hi mom."

"How did it go?" Maki's mother asked.

"Um...great!"

"I saw the youtube videos, you guys made a play! Show me the footage!"

Maki frowned. "What, there's videos on youtube already?"

"Of course! Your friend Nico really is something else, isn't she?" Maki's mother sighed happily. "I'm so glad you met her."

Maki scowled. "Nico...well I'll give you the videotapes later..."

 _Never. You are definitely going to show it to my co-workers._

"I'm going to my room," Maki said as she started walking away.

"Okay! Dinner starts in an hour!"

Maki stepped in her room and sighed. "I should take a shower..."

Maki put on a t-shirt and some sweatpants. _Alright, time to read about surgery._

Maki grabbed her favorite book, a large encyclopedia about surgery. Just when she was about to open the book, Maki's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Maki," Kotori chirped. "I'm going visit Eli at her office, wanna come?"

Maki frowned. "Office? Is she working already?"

Maki checked the time. 1 _:27 PM_

"Uh, well Eli said she needed to check on her co-workers... Anyways, do you wanna come?"

Maki pursed her lips. "Hmm...no. I should stay home and study."

"What? Oh... well, it's your choice so text me if you change your mind."

Kotori hung up.

Maki sighed. _And I'm on call today so if there was an emergency I would have to rush to the hospital._

As if on cue, Maki's phone rang again.

Maki checked the caller ID. _Nishikino Hospital._

"Hello?"

"Doctor Maki Nishikino, we need your services now. Please come to the operation room within 30 minutes."

"Yes, I'm coming."

* * *

Maki entered the hospital and immediately went to the front desk.

"I'm Dr. Niskino Maki, and I was called for an emergency operation. Where...?"

The lady at the front desk glanced at a sheet of paper and replied, "Operation room 21, Back Surgery."

Maki nodded quick thanks to the lady and hurried off.

 _Changing room...Changing room..._

Maki burst into the changing room and put on her hospital scrubs.

 _Hair..._

Maki tied her hair as fast as she could and slipped on her cap.

(Scrub caps look like shower caps).

 _Deep breath, deep breath..._

Maki entered the operation room.

* * *

"Nice work everyone," Marsida said.

Maki grabbed her handbag and left the surgeon lounge.

The hospital lobby was bustling with staff and patients as people rushed around Maki. It was loud, but not uncomfortable.

 _Being a surgeon is kinda fun_ , Maki thought. _But then again, I'm surrounded by dying people._

Maki checked the time. 8: _36 PM._

 _I should probably head home. I haven't even had dinner yet._ Abruptly, Maki's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Maki, dear, our driver is with me at the mall in Harajuku. Use the trains. Bye!"

Maki scowled. _Thanks, Mom._

Unexpectantly, Maki's phone rang again.

Maki checked the caller ID. _Hanayo._

"Hello?"

"Maki can you come to our restaurant? No of our other friends are answering their phones and we need help!"

Maki frowned. "What doing you want me to do?"

"I-Ah Rin, don't scare the customers! I'll send you the address, Maki! Please come!"

Hanoya hung up.

Maki sighed. _Perhaps I should go... Hanayo has helped me multiple times._

Maki's phone beeped. A text notification appeared and Maki checked the message.

 _Hmm...it's only 2 train stations away_ , Maki thought. _I don't have anything else to do, so I think I'll go._

* * *

"Maki, you came!"

Rin's cheer rang in Maki's ears. "Oh... hi, Rin. I didn't know your shop had such a...unique name."

"Rice and Trolls! It's a great name, isn't it?"

Maki nodded slowly. "Yeah..."

Hanayo appeared from behind the counter. "Maki!"

Maki strode up to Hanayo. "So, what do you need help with?"

Hanayo gestured to her computer. "This graph shows our sales. And...as you can see, we are not doing very well."

Maki peered at the graph. The line graph was jagged and steadily near the bottom. "So what did you want me to help with?"

Hanayo sighed. "Well, in addition to our bad sales, much of our profit has completely vanished."

Maki gasped. "What? And you didn't do anything before?"

Hanayo shrugged. "We just assumed it was normal and thought that the money would come back after a while."

Maki frowned. "Hanayo, money just doesn't disappear. Someone must be robbing you."

Rin gasped from the other side of the room. "ROBBER?"

Maki sighed. "Look, I'm not really a business person. I'm a surgeon, alright? I suggest you contact Umi or Eli for help."

"Well, Eli wasn't answering her phone and Umi's phone wasn't even on," Hanayo said. "Maki, er, why don't you sit down? Have you had dinner yet?"

Maki shook her head. "No..."

Hanayo nodded. "Have a look at the menu, I can make something for you for free."

Maki looked at the menu. _This menu is awfully unorganized. And why are there so many derps faces here?_

"Would you like anything, Maki?" Hanayo asked.

Maki scanned through the meal choices. "Er, I'll have the fried rice with extra tomatoes."

Hanayo nodded. "I'll be right back. Well, actually would you like to take a look at our kitchen?"

"Sure."

Hanayo led Maki through a large metal door, Rin closely following behind.

Maki scanned over the messy kitchen. "Why are there pots and pans on the floor?"

Rin scratched her head nervously. "I might have...knocked over a few."

Maki sighed. "Where are your staff?"

Hanayo poured some oil onto a pan and started pan frying the rice. "Their shifts are over. Besides, we only have 4 workers anyways."

"Only 4?"

"2 chefs, 2 waiters. Rin, can you wash the dishes?"

Maki frowned. "So let me get this straight, you have 2 waiters and 2 chefs. What do Rin and you do during service hours?"

"I help with receiving orders. Rin helps wash the dishes," Hanayo replied.

"Are you crazy?" Maki muttered. "Rin would cause a huge mess!"

"No, I won't!" Rin cried, just as she accidentally knocked a pan to the floor. "Whoops!"

Maki cringed inwardly. "See? I suggest you change things up a bit..."

* * *

"Alright, Maki! Here is your fried rice, free of charge!" Rin exclaimed, bubbly.

Maki took a bite. "It's really good! See, you guys would see really well if you would just properly advertise your restaurant and perhaps change things up a bit. Hanayo, I suggest you switch jobs with Rin because Rin's enthusiasm could really help in serving customers."

Hanayo nodded. "We'll see about that. Thanks for coming here today, Maki."

"I didn't really do anything. I'll contact Eli so that she can come and help you out. I have Sundays off, so I can come help in a few days."

Maki continued eating.

"Thanks, Maki, we really appreciate it. I... don't really have much experience in this stuff so I really appreciate it."

Rin gave Maki a big, goofy smile. "Ya! Thanks!"

Maki ignored Rin and finished the remaining rice. "Thanks for the food. I should probably get going. It's already 10 pm."

Hanayo nodded. "Okay!"

Maki called her driver. "Ah, Mr. Takeshi, please come pick me up at...Rice and Trolls."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you so much for 50 reviews! To be honest, when I first started this story, I had no absolute idea what I was doing, but when people started reading this, I decided to build up a story.**

 **I apologize for not updating last week, my computer was broken. On a happier note, my school break starts this week so I'll write more consistently.**

 **Special thanks to JoaqinHawke, Weebvirus, Nevertolose-Hope, SierraJE, YayaSamuko, KiariUwU, Tanuki-pyon, misaka5621, Razgriz89, TheNightstriker, Aethuran, FieryKataX310, Echoshadowlikespotatoes, and FilipinoWriter300 AdamCZ for ever reviewing on this story.**


	21. Chapter 21

Maki sipped from a mug in Starbucks, the loud noise of bustling people in the hospital blaring around her.

A text notification came to Maki's attention

 _Hanayo_

 _Hanayo Koizumi, 6:18 PM_

 **I switched jobs with Rin.**

 **It's working so far but not a lot of people came into our shop yet.**

 _Maki Nishikino, 6:19 PM_

 **What about your profit?**

 **Did it disappear again?**

 _Hanayo Koizumi, 6:19 PM_

 **I'm keeping an eye on our money.**

 **No disappearances so far.**

Maki sighed as she typed a reply. _Naive..._

 _Maki Nishikino, 6:21 PM_

 **Install a hidden camera.**

 **You need to find out what really happens.**

* * *

"Maki, welcome!" Eli exclaimed as Maki closed the restaurant door behind her. "Have you come to help?"

Maki nodded. "I'm done with work for the day. Have you found anything yet?"

Eli shooked her head. "Nothing yet, but I have my suspicions." Eli gestured to the 2 young waitresses standing behind the cashier. "I think it may have something to do with those girls," Eli whispered.

Maki glanced at the girls. _That one looks like a teenager, 16 maybe? The other looks a bit older, perhaps in her early 20s'. Wait what is that? Her apron pocket...looks bloated._

"Where is Hanayo?" Maki asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, uh she's in the kitchen," Eli replied.

Maki burst through the kitchen door. "Hanayo!"

Hanayo looked up from where she was washing dishes. "Maki?"

Maki marched up to Hananyo and started talking in a low whisper. "Hey, what is the name of your waitress who looks older than the other one?"

"Oh- Akari? She's 19."

"Look, I think she may be the one stealing from your profits. Notice her apron pocket-okay? It looks like there's a lot of things in there-most likely cash."

Hanayo gasped. "Akari? She would never!"

The 2 chef paused in their work to glance at Hanayo momentarily.

"Hey, keep it down!" Maki whispered.

"B-but!" Hanayo whispered, urgently. "Akari has been working for me for over a year! I really trust her!"

Maki scowled. _Naive..._

"Look, Hanayo, people are not what they seem, okay? We need to keep an eye on her."

Hanayo nodded reluctantly. "I'll set up some hidden cameras during the dinner break."

Maki sighed and walked out of the kitchen.

"Maki, what happened?" Eli asked.

Maki quietly gestured to Akari. "Take a look at her apron pocket."

Eli squinted at Akari and did a double take. "Woah. How did I not notice this before?"

Maki nodded frantically. "Right? It looks like there are coins in there, bills too. She must be stealing the cash..."

* * *

The next morning, Maki knocked on her mother's bedroom door.

The door swung open to reveal Maki's mother in pajamas. "Maki? What is it?"

"I have a really selfish request to make," Maki announced nervously. "I'm so sorry mom, but could I take this day off? I know it's Monday and all but you remember that green haired girl that came to return my school ID 7 years ago? She has problems with her restaurant and I need to help-"

"Why of course! I was scared that you would become too much of a workaholic anyway! Surgeon work can be tiring. And if your friend has any problems, tell her that she is always welcome to come for a cup of tea and snacks at our home!"

Maki scowled. "Tea and snacks don't solve financial problems, mom."

"Well, it sure makes anyone feel better! Go help your friends, Maki."

Maki nodded and walked away through the hallway.

* * *

"Hanayo! How did it go?" Maki exclaimed as she walked into Rice and Trolls (*great name, I know).

Hanayo was hunched over the computer monitor with Eli and Rin. "I don't know. We were just about to check."

"Where are Akari and your other staff?" Maki asked as she marched up to Hanayo.

"Our restaurant is not open on Mondays!" Rin cheered. "Hanayo, just click it!"

Hanayo looked distraught. "I...really don't want to! Akari has been-"

"MOVE!" Maki snapped as she forcefully pressed the mouse.

The video showed a pair of teenage girls paying in cash. Akari was smiling at them and waving after she accepted the bills.

"Uh oh," Eli said.

Akari looked around the restaurant and quietly slipped the cash into her pocket.

"Aha!" Maki exclaimed. "I knew it! Akari is the one!"

Hanayo looked ghostly. "B-but...maybe this is not..."

"You saw the evidence with your own eyes, Hanayo!" Maki said. "Akari has been stealing from you! You need to report her to the police!"

"Police? Maki perhaps that's too far," Eli stated.

"But Akari has committed a crime. She should go to court!" Maki protested. "Think of the others who could fall victim to her!"

"Maki...I don't even want to think about reporting her," Hanayo muttered. "Akari always seemed so kind..."

"Instead of reporting her," Rin started. "We should just FIRE HER!"

Hanayo reluctantly nodded. "I'd rather fire her than report her..."

Maki sighed. "Alright then...it's your choice. You should at least call her to let her know that _you_ know."

Eli nodded. "Call her, Hanayo!"

Hanayo nodded and unpocketed her phone. "Well here goes..."

Hanayo dialed a number on her phone and pressed speaker.

"Hello?"

"Hi Akari, this is Hanayo."

"Oh. What do you need?"

"I.. called to check on something. I wanted you to know that you are...laid off. Go get some rest...and...yea. Take a nice vacation?"

"Stop being so nice to her!" Maki whispered. "She took your money!"

"What?" Akari's voice from the phone was slightly nervous. "Is there someone with you?"

"Yes there is," Eli said suddenly.

"What are you doing?" Maki whispered-yelled.

Eli winked. "Miss Akari, this is Eli Ayase speaking. I recommend you confess your crimes now, we have security footage of you stealing money. Hang up and we call the police."

"W-what? Okay, fine! I took the money!"

Eli smirked. "Aha. We have this call on record."

Eli held up her phone, which was on a voice recorder. "Hanayo works hard every day just to have her money stolen by you. You better return this money, or we call the police. Confess, Return the money, and we fire you. Then you're free."

Akari was silent for a few seconds. "W-what? I...I...I'm sorry. I'll return the money tomorrow."

"You better," Eli said just before she hung up. "How was that?"

Maki nodded. "I think I have a newfound respect for you now."

* * *

 **And that sort of concludes the restaurant problem!**

 **Sorry for the kinda late update.**

 **I think this story might end up being a lot longer than what I originally planned...**


	22. Chapter 22

Maki opened her eyes to a gentle light seeping through the satin curtains of her bedroom.

 _It's finally autumn now, huh?_

Maki quite liked autumns in Tokyo. From the falling leaves to the cute outfits and perfect weather, there was nothing to dislike about autumn. And it's even better that it's almost Kotori's birthday. Maki quite liked cake.

"I guess I should get ready for work," Maki murmured as she got out of bed.

The past few months Maki immersed herself with work, operation after operation, surgery after surgery. Each time Maki successfully saved someone, there was no thanks, no gratitude, no smile, just pay.

Pay that she didn't really want.

 _Perhaps surgery isn't really your thing_ , a voice in Maki's head said as she turned on the shower faucet. _But I worked so hard for my Master's degree! Wouldn't it be a waste if I just started something else?_ Maki argued with the voice.

 _But you'd be lying if you said you were satisfied with your life,_ the voice retorted. Maki patted herself dry with a warm towel. _Point taken, but I can't quit now. I just started and I already signed a 3 contract with the hospital!_

Maki's cell phone rang abruptly. _Eli._

Maki wiped her hand on a towel and put the phone on speaker as she brushed her teeth.

"Hello? Maki?"

"What is it?" Maki asked, her mouth full of toothpaste.

"Yea, so I'm sure you already know about Kotori's birthday this Wednesday. It's in 4 days. Have you bought a present yet?"

"No, I was planning to buy it tomorrow."

"Oh, I see. Well, Kotori has hinted that she wants cute clothing so I was thinking if we could buy something for her later today."

"Sorry, not today. I have work." Maki exited the bathroom and began dressing.

"Work on a Saturday? What a gloomy life. I hope you're not overworking yourself. Isn't surgery really tiring?"

Maki sighed. "It is but saving people's lives makes it worth it," Maki half lied.

"Oh...I see. Well, I'll guess I'll go shopping with you tomorrow. I'll meet you at Harajuku Station at noon, alright?"

Maki put that in her mental calendar. "Yea, sure."

Eli hung up.

* * *

Maki stood in the bustling station of Harajuku. _Where in the world is Eli?_

"Ah, sorry Maki! I was preoccupied with a phone call from work," Eli said as she approached Maki.

"Don't overwork yourself," Maki warned.

Eli chuckled. "Says the girl who works 6 days a week. Come on, I know this great place Kotori would love."

Maki followed Eli out of the busy station and onto the side of the streets. "Are we close?"

"Yea, it's just a few minutes away."

Maki soon found herself standing in front of a cute clothing store with mannequins and pastel clothing on display. "Are we here?"

"Yep. Come on, now."

Maki followed Eli into the store. "This place is...nice."

"Ooh, look! Wouldn't this look good on you?" Eli held up a beige sweater with frills on top. "Beige is in this season, after all."

 _Are there really new colours each season?_

Maki frowned. "Aren't we shopping for Kotori?"

"Oh right, I got off track. Let's see..."

Eli wandered off on her own, looking through racks of clothing.

 _Guess I have to find something on my own_ , Maki thought. _I never really had an eye for fashion..._

Maki looked through racks of clothing. _Perhaps this sweater? Eh, it looks too heavy for someone petite like Kotori. Or maybe this mint green dress? On second thought, that's looking more like puke than mint._

After a while, Eli came back to Maki, holding racks of beautiful clothing. "Find anything?"

Maki shook her head.

 _10 minutes passed..._

 _15 minutes passed..._

 _30 minutes passed..._

 _Ah, geez, I'm not finding anything!_ Maki gaped at Eli expertly and rapidly hunting for the perfect clothes for Kotori. _How does she do that?_

Maki looked around the store, and eventually, her eyes landed on the 3 mannequins displayed.

 _That's it! I'll just pick the exact same clothes as the mannequin!_

Maki hurriedly matched the clothes on the mannequin with the clothes on racks. _This skirt with this sweater...and this ivory dress with these leggings...and done!_

"Got anything, Maki?"

Maki smiled sheepishly and held up the racks of clothing on her arm.

"Wow, great sense of style, Maki!" Eli applauded. "What do you think about these?"

Eli held up a beige crop top with a short black skirt. "It would look great on Kotori, right?"

Maki nodded. "Yeah..."

Eli took the rack to the counter and started paying.

Maki glanced around the store on last time. _Perhaps I should get something for myself as well_ , Maki thought as her eyes landed on a shimmery white hair clip.

 _Wow, that looks great._

* * *

Maki entered Kotori's home with her present. "Wow, this place looks great."

"Maki, welcome!" Umi said. "Kotori's just opening presents in the other room."

Umi gestured to the living room.

Maki nodded and stepped into the living room. "Hello, guys."

Nico turned to look at Maki. "Ew, Maki, what's with that cold attitude?"

Maki scowled. "What?"

Nico looked into her camera. "Hi guys, remember Maki?"

Maki facepalmed.

"Say hi to my subbies, Maki! Oh wait, I call you guys sparkly unicorns now. Say hi to my sparkly unicorns, Maki!"

"Hi sparkly unicorns," Maki deadpanned.

"Hi, Maki!" Kotori exclaimed when she noticed Maki.

Maki smiled at Kotori as she handed Kotori the present. "Happy birthday!"

"Wow thanks, I love your hair clip!" Kotori beamed.

Maki smiled.

"So you decided to buy that hair clip after all, huh?" Eli said. "Good choice."

Kotori neatly ripped the wrapping paper off of Maki's present. "It's so pretty! I love this dress, oh Maki, thanks so much!"

Maki grinned. "Anytime, Kotori."

 _It's the exact clothes on the mannequins..._

* * *

 **And that's an update!**

 **Albeit a bit short...**

 **Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

"Hey Maki, wanna go to karaoke with us?"

Maki frowned at her phone. "Eli, I thought you already knew that I work on Saturdays."

Eli's light chuckling was loud and clear in the phone call. "Yes, yes, Maki I know. I was just going to suggest having it tomorrow."

"I don't know," Maki said. "I haven't sung in a while."

"Please, Maki?"

"Oh, _fine._ I'll go."

"Alright! Meet you at Akihabara station at 2!"

Maki stepped off the train. _She's probably downstairs._

Maki walked down the steps of the train station and immediately noticed Eli standing in a corner with Nico.

"Hi, Eli," Maki said. "Ugh, why is _she_ here?"

Nico pouted. "What? I wanted to sing too!"

Eli sighed. "Well, Nozomi and Umi has to do something for work, Kotori went eat lunch with her family for her birthday, Rin and Hanayo are working at their restaurant and Honoka always sleeps through Sundays, so Nico was the only one who could join us."

Maki frowned. "Honoka sleeps through the entire day on Sundays?"

Eli nodded. "24 hours."

"Guys! Can't we just go?" Nico wailed.

Maki nodded. "Yea, sure."

Nico pulled out her camera as she trailed behind Maki. "Hey, sparkly unicorns! We're currently at Akihabara Station, and we are going to karaoke!"

Eli turned to Maki as they walked down the street. "It's really close, just a few more minutes."

Maki nodded.

"Maki! Are we almost there yet?" Nico called from far behind Maki.

"No! Nico, walk faster!"

Nico strutted over to Maki and Eli. "No fair, you guys have long legs!"

Maki rolled her eyes.

Eli stopped in front of a building. "We're here."

Nico took a photo of the building and stood there tapping on her phone.

"Nico? What are you doing?" Maki called from inside the building.

"Snapchat-wait!"

Maki followed Eli to the bright, inviting front desk.

"1 room for 2 hours, please," Eli said.

The lady at the front desk nodded. "Right this way."

Maki followed the lady into one of the many doors in the hallway.

"Thank you," Eli said. "Now, guys what song do you want?"

Maki sat on the couch and picked up a small booklet. "Well, there are quite a lot to choose from."

Nico snatched the booklet from Maki.

"Hey!" Maki frowned.

Ignoring Maki, Nico let out an excited string of words. "OmigoshtheyhaveBeyonce! Icouldtotallysingthat!"

Eli pointed at a keypad. "We have to press a number on the keypad. What is the number for that song, Nico?"

"4892," Nico replied. "I'm totally gonna nail this!"

Maki shook her head. _Listen? Nico will fail without a doubt._

The first few notes of the song came up and Nico almost missed the first line of the song.

"Listen, to the song here in my heart," Nico sang.

 _Well, she's not that bad,_ Maki mulled. _But surely she won't nail the high note._

"LISTEN! I AM ALONE AT A CROSSROADS!" Nico sang. Or more appropriately, yelled.

Maki covered her ears. "Er, Eli, why don't you sing for a change?"

Eli nodded. "Sure!"

Nico handed Eli the microphone and sat down next to Maki. "I'm really good, right?"

Maki smiled thinly. "Yea..."

Eli started singing and Maki was astounded.

The song ended and Eli turned back to Nico and Maki. "How was I?"

"Incredible," Maki admitted. "You nailed the high notes, too. I see your singing skills have not been lost."

Eli grinned sheepishly. "Really? Well, I do try to practice..."

Nico rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyways, let's sing some more!"

Maki sighed.

Eli flipped through the pages of the booklet. "Ooh! I want to sing this!"

Eli pressed some numbers into the keypad and soft music started playing.

Eli started singing, " _Neol pumgi jeon alji moshaetda **.**.."_

"What language is that?" Nico whispered to Maki.

"Definitely not Japanese," Maki answered. "Korean, perhaps?"

 _Eli's voice is incredible; it's sweet but has power. Oh god, that sounded cheesy,_ Maki thought.

Eli finished her song.

"What song was that?" Nico asked.

"It's called 'I will go to you like the first snow' by Ailee. She's Korean," Eli said with a smile.

Maki raised her eyebrow. "Since when did you learn to sing in Korean?"

Eli shrugged. "I never really learned, I just sing what I hear."

* * *

"Maki," Eli started after singing her 4th song. "Why don't you sing something as well?"

Maki shook her head. "I'd rather...not."

Maki flipped to the next page of the booklet and dropped her jaw. "Oh...my goodness."

"What?" Nico followed Maki's gaze onto the booklet and screamed. "OMIGOSH! YAS!"

Eli frowned at her two friends contrasting reactions. "What is it?"

Eli skimmed through the page; her eyes landing on a song title.

"Cutie...Panther?"

Nico grinned widely. "OUR SONG! Let's sing it!"

Maki shook her head. "I can't believe that our song is in here."

Eli smiled. "Nice to know our past effort wasn't for nothing."

Eli pressed the number into the keypad. "Let's do it, guys."

Maki mind started going haywire. _What? What? WHAT? wHAT? I CAN'T SING THIS! I haven't sung in 7 years!_

 _It's not a big deal_ , a voice in Maki's head said. _You used to sing this all the time. In front of hundreds, no less._

 _But I've kinda changed now!_ Maki argued with the voice. _If I sing now it would be going back on all the change I've mad-_

Maki's thoughts were interrupted by the electro music intro of the song.

Eli handed Maki a mic and smile.

Maki grimaced in return.

The music kept playing and Maki realized she missed her first line.

 _This is not going to end well. I repeat this is not going to end well._

 _"Doko ni iru no? Muri yo muri yo doko ni_ _itatte muri yo,_ " Eli and Nico sang.

"Tsukamaechau!" Eli exclaimed.

" _Dare to iru no? Dame yo dame yo watashi_ _igai wa dame yo_ ," Nico grinned at Maki.

" _A-Amai yo_ _amai sonna soubi ja,"_ Maki started shakily. _Dang, my voice is deeper than I thought._

Eli flashed Maki a supportive smile.

" _Nigerareru wake nai janai ka. Nerai o tsukete hisoka ni haigo kara_ ," Maki sang, smoother this time.

Nico started singing her lines with energy. "I looove yoouuuuu!"

 _"Watashi no koto o suki ni naru hazu_ ," Eli sang elegantly.

"I love youuuu!"

" _Soko ni seigi ga aru no_!"

" _Cutie Panther watashi doko demo iku yo,_ " Maki, Nico, and Eli sang together.

Maki could see the employees of the karaoke place peering through the window.

* * *

Maki curled into a ball in the corner of the room. _I can't believe I just did that._

"Well, you guys, that was pretty fun, " Eli said. "Hm?"

Eli noticed the small crowd of employees outside the karaoke room door. "What would they be doing here?"

Eli opened the door. "Hey...guys, is there something wrong?"

"It's true! Um, could you possibly be Eli Ayase from μ's?" A female employee asked.

Eli nodded. "Yes."

The employees gasped.

"We heard her sing, she's the real deal!"

"Omigosh, I can't believe I heard Bibi sing live, is this a dream?"

Eli smiled sheepishly, and Nico soon bounded at the opportunity to meet fans.

"You guys know us? Well, fear not, we will be glad to sign autographs or shake your hands-"

"No we're not, we aren't even an idol group anymore," Maki interrupted.

"Nishikino Maki? Could I please get a selfie with you?"

Maki glanced at the girl who spoke. "Er...sure."

The girl took out her phone and took a selfie with Maki (who smiled weakly).

"Could you guys sing for us again?" An employee asked. "Pleease?"

"Of course!" Nico exclaimed. "What song would you like?"

"Love novels, please!" An employee said.

"Sure thing," Eli smiled.

* * *

 _Nishikino Maki, 11.08 PM_

 **Can someone please explain why a VIDEO OF ME SINGING 'LOVE NOVELS' IS ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA?**

 _Toujou Nozomi, 11.10 PM_

 **Power of the internet ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**BiBi Singing at a Karaoke Bar?**

 _Everyone remembers Bibi; sub-unit of μ's, a school idol group high popular a decade ago. We all thought that μ's was gone forever. Or was it? The three members of Bibi, supposedly in their late 20s', were spotted singing their old songs Cutie Panther and Love Novels in a karaoke bar last Sunday._

 _Fans speculate that this could be the beginning of a possible comeback, but without evidence, no one could tell f_ or sure. _Could this be the beginning of something big? Let us know in the comments_ _belo-_

Maki slammed her phone onto the table. "This is ridiculous!"

Nearby people in the cafe glanced at Maki.

Eli chuckled from across the table. "Some people really think it's something big."

Maki scowled. "It's been 10 years. What kind of logic-"

"Look," Eli interjected. "People are always thinking of crazy and new things. It's part of their jobs, okay?"

Eli leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee elegantly. "Oh, and by the way, yesterday Honoka texted me saying that she got a call from Kira."

"Kira?" Maki asked. "The leader of A-RISE?"

Eli nodded. "Apparently they were also really curious."

Maki rolled her eyes. "I hope Honoka told them to mind their own business."

Eli raised a brow. "Actually, Honoka told me that she was hungover at the time so she didn't say anything and just hung up."

Maki snorted. "Classic Honoka."

Eli laughed. "Well, either way, Honoka didn't answer directly. I'm sure they'll call again."

Maki rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Maki...I never knew you could sing!"

Maki choked on her coffee and started coughing relentlessly. "What?"

So Hyun chuckled. "In this video, you were singing. And how come you never told me you were a famous idol?"

So Hyun held up her smartphone, playing a clip of Maki singing at the karaoke place.

Maki buried her face in her palms. "That was back when I was in high school," Maki babbled. "And it's in the past now! I have no interest in going back to my idol days!"

"No need to be so defensive, Maki," So Hyun remarked.

Maki scowled. "Don't tell the other surgeons about this."

"Alright, alright, I won't. But...if they find out on their own, don't blame me, alright?"

So Hyun slid off her stool and grabbed her purse. "I gotta go. See you later, Nishikino."

"Bye," Maki replied.

 _I should get going too,_ Maki mused. _It's already 5 pm._

Abruptly, Maki's phone started ringing.

 _Honoka?_

"Hello?"

"Maki, can you come to my house tomorrow? Everyone's coming," Honoka mentioned.

"When?" Maki asked.

"Tomorrow at 3 o'clock."

"Why?"

"We need to talk together," Honoka insisted.

Maki sighed. "Can't it wait? I'm on call tomorrow."

"Pleeeeease, Maki? It's important!" Honoka begged.

"No, Honoka, what if I get called?"

"My house isn't even that far from the hospital!"

 _Good point_ , Maki thought.

"Alright then."

* * *

 _This was a terrible idea,_ Maki thought as her driver drove. _I'm a fool for agreeing._

The car parked in front of Honoka's humble home and Maki opened the car door.

"Maki! Welcome!" Honoka cried running out to greet Maki.

Maki smiled thinly. "Hello, Honoka."

"Driver again, Maki?" Nico sneered from the doorway. "I bet you don't even know how to drive!"

Maki frowned. "I have an American driver's license!"

"Yea yea," Nico rolled her eyes. "Get in here, Maki."

Maki followed Nico and Honoka into the house's living room.

"Welcome, Maki! Glad you could join us!" Eli said. "Here, sit."

Maki took a seat next to Eli. "So...what are we here for?"

"I don't know!" Rin chirped from on the floor (no one knows what's she's doing there).

"Then don't answer!" Nico snapped.

Nozomi chuckled. "Someone's awfully cranky."

"Guys!" Umi exclaimed. "We are off task! Eli and I had to talk to our boss to get this time off. Honoka, if this turns out to be another dumb idea of yours, I swear I'm going to-"

"But it is," Honoka blurted out.

"I'm sorry, what?" Umi frowned.

"I have an idea," Honoka announced, standing up proudly.

"Oh!" Rin, Kotori, and Hanayo clapped, impressed.

Maki, Eli, and Umi sighed in unison.

"So!" Honoka started. "I think we should have a comeback!"

Maki doubled over, laughing profusely. "Oh... you're serious."

Honoka frowned. "Yes, I am serious. What's so funny?"

Umi laughed dryly. "It's a pretty ridiculous idea."

"How is it ridiculous?" Honoka furrowed her brows. "Eh, whatever. WHO'S IN?"

"ME!" Rin, Hanayo, and Nico exclaimed.

"Not me," Maki muttered.

"What was that, Maki?" Nozomi smirked.

"I said I'm not joining in."

"What? But you need to compose our music!" Honoka protested.

"I'm not joining either," Umi remarked.

"Neither am I," Eli said.

"Guys!" Nico whined. "Traitors!"

"What?" Umi scowled. "Everyone has the right to choose, right? I choose no."

"Why?" Rin wailed. "We won't be together anymore!"

"Well, first off, let's be logical about this," Maki started. "We all have jobs and responsibilities now. Where are we going to find the time to become idols again?"

Honoka pouted.

"Secondly, it's been pretty much a decade since we last sang together. It would take months of practice until we are back on the same level as before."

"Maki has a point," Eli said. "We don't have as much free time as before."

"But we have more experience!" Nico argued. "We can work faster than before!"

"But that doesn't negate the fact that 3 of us works 5 days a week," Eli said with a small frown. "And Maki is a surgeon constantly on call."

"We can do it if we try," Honoka reasoned.

Maki shook her head. "Sorry Honoka, life doesn't work that way. Eli, Umi, Nozomi, and I are just too busy. And...Hanayo, how many days in a week is your restaurant open?"

"Seven," Hanayo replied meekly.

"See? So that leaves only Honoka and Nico who have free time."

"Wait, Honoka, you're unemployed?" Rin asked.

"N-No, I'm not! I just help my mom at the shop!" Honoka stammered.

"Um...guys? I have some free time, too," Kotori mentioned.

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot about you, Kotori. But seriously, Honoka, just forget it. There's no way-"

"How can you say that?" Honoka's eyes were starting to water. "Have you forgotten the way it felt to be singing out on that stage? Have you forgotten your love for music?"

 _Dang, I've gone too far._

Maki glanced at Honoka guiltily. "I'm sorry Honoka, I didn't mean to offend you. How about we think this over again?"

Honoka wiped her tears.

"I mean...if we really really try, then maybe, just maybe it would work out?" Maki said.

"Okay! Then let's do it," Honoka grinned.

Maki facepalmed.

"Classic Honoka," Nozomi remarked.

* * *

 **Author's Note: We are entering the final arc of this story now. I'm going to try to finish the last chapters before the end of August.**

 **Please review!**


	25. Chapter 25

Maki led Eli and Umi into the piano room.

"Here it is," Maki said as she sat in front of the piano.

"Wow, this room is amazing," Eli remarked.

Maki shrugged. "My mother wanted me to enjoy piano as much as I could before I eventually had to stop, so she gave me a private room to play."

"But," Umi started. "Do you still play?"

Maki shook her head. "I haven't been in this room since I was in high school."

Eli gasped. "But you loved playing!"

"Eh...not anymore. I don't really have the time."

"Do you think you'll still remember how to play?" Umi asked as she sat down the couch next to Eli.

"I guess we'll just have to see," Maki said as she lifted the piano cover and removed the red cloth.

 _Let's play some Chopin._

Maki pressed the first key of Chopin's Nocturne op.9 No.2, noting how familiar the ivory keys felt under her fingers.

Relying on muscle memory, Maki waltzed through the entire 4-minute song without a single mistake.

Eli and Umi clapped elatedly.

"You still remember that entire song? After so many years?" Umi asked.

Eli smiled. "That's talent for you."

Maki stared at her fingers. _You've been hiding this from me the whole time?_ Maki accused her fingers. _And all this time I thought I forgot everything!_

After a few moments of silence, Maki spoke up.

"Let's start."

* * *

When you think about it, writing a song is not an easy feat.

First, you write the lyrics, then you make a melody, then you find the chords and add all the other instruments.

Maki was not a fan of writing lyrics.

"Umi, would you like to do it?"

Umi shrugged. "We need to decide on a theme first."

"How about something we might have done in the past?" Eli suggested. "Oh, wait, that's a bad idea. We all changed too much."

"We did," Maki agreed. "So how about something completely new and more mature?"

They sat together silently, deep in thought.

"You know what," Umi started abruptly. "Let's get some ideas."

"Good idea, Eli said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I'll turn on A-RISE's newest song."

Eli set her phone on the low coffee table and Maki leaned over to get a better view.

The video started with a shot of Kira walking down a dark hallway wearing fancy leather boots. After a moment, she turned to the camera and smirked.

And then violin music started playing.

"Wow," Umi said. "They look...cool."

Maki said nothing and stared at A-RISE on the screen.

"Definitely high-budget," Eli stated. "Their dancing has gotten much better, too."

The video ended and Eli turned off her phone.

"So...what do you guys think?" Umi asked.

"I like their concept," Eli said. "But I don't think it would be suitable for us."

"I think we should go for a happier concept. Mature, but happy," Umi stated.

"Hm, how about a futuristic μ's type of thing? Maybe we can take a video of each other during work?" Eli suggested.

"Oh, I like that idea!" Umi said.

Maki frowned. "But how would you film me during operation?"

Eli waved her hand dismissively. "We'll figure something out. Umi, do you think you can write the lyrics now?"

Umi nodded and jotted some notes onto her notepad. "So our theme is...future? Present? Moving on?"

"Moving on," Eli agreed.

"Okay. I think I can write something up in an hour or so. Do you guys want to plan out the music video while I...?"

"Sure," Eli said.

Umi started writing notes furiously as Eli turned to Maki.

"What do you have in mind?" Maki asked.

"I don't know," Eli admitted. "I want to film our everyday working scenes. I want our fans to know how far we've grown."

"Wait..." Maki trailed off. "So are we officially idols again or what?"

Eli pursed her lips. "Didn't we already talk about this?"

Maki blinked. "What?"

"I guess you weren't listening." Eli sighed softly and stared at Maki seriously. "Basically, we are now part-time idols, in a sense. We have shows, we have new songs, but they won't come out as fast as they might've been when we were school idols. This is because we all have our own jobs in addition to being idols."

"What? Eli, there's no way I set aside my job as a surgeon. Even if I'm not physically in the hospital, I'm going to be on call for a large period of time-"

"Which is why I re-scheduled your work times." Maki's mother smiled from the doorway.

"Mom-what?" Maki looked incredulously at her mother. "Is everyone in this without me knowing?"

Maki's mother smirked for a split second and then her facial expressions twisted into one of empathy. "Maki...I know you. I know how much you loved music ever since that day when your friends came to your father to convince him to let you become an idol. I know that is this the right career path for you."

"No, it's not!" Maki protested. "Then what was the point of my years of study in America-"

"Maki, think rationally," Eli insisted. "Idols are probably only famous for a period of time. Once it's all over, you'll have the education you need to return to a normal job. In fact, the people who should be the most worried about their jobs is Umi, Nozomi, and I since we are actively working under a strict boss. You, however, have the flexibility to do whatever, since your boss is literally your family and you'll always be guaranteed a job in your hospital."

Maki stayed silent for a few moments and let everything sink in, barely noticing her mother backing out of the room or the fact that Eli had left her side and started conversing with Umi.

 _An idol? Again? No, no, that's a bad idea. I've changed so much! I can't go back being a cute idol! I'm a 25-year-old woman!_

 _Maki,_ a voice in her head said. _There are 30-year-old idols in this world._

 _But I'm a surgeon! I can't just stop! Surgery is my life and passion!_

 _Maki, can you really honestly say that you have a great passion for cutting people up and fixing up their innards?_

 _No._

 _There you go. You once enjoyed being an idol before right? So be it._

"Maki, you've been staring at the floor for a while," Eli said.

Maki snapped out of her thoughts.

Eli chuckled. "Are you alright?"

"I'm..alright. Um, what are you guys working on? Maybe I can help?"

"We were just working on some lyrics. Maki, since your English is good, maybe you can help us write a few English lines," Umi suggested.

"Sure."

* * *

The 9 young women were gathered in Maki's piano room a few days later, to come up with ideas for a music video.

Honoka had this secret smile on her face that kind of told Maki that she was not going to enjoy whatever idea Honoka had.

"Okay, so here's my plan for the music vid!" Honoka squealed. "It's the ultimate plan."

"Alright, continue," Eli prompted.

"So basically, I'm going to be working in the store making Japanese sweets while I call Kotori, who is sketching designs for new uniforms for Rin and Hanayo's shop, and then Kotori sends a picture of the design to Hanayo, who is working in her store, and then-"

"Phrase proper sentences, please," Maki muttered.

"-Rin and Hanayo forwards the picture to Eli, Umi and Nozomi who are in their office together, and then suddenly-"

"What about me!?" Nico whined.

"-Nico, who was walking around Harajuku suddenly gets hit by a random car and almost dies and Maki does surgery on her!"

"What? Why do I have to get hit by a car?" Nico wailed.

Maki scowled. "And why do I perform surgery on her? Realistically, I would just let her die."

Eli laughed. "That sounds just about right, Maki, but for the sake of the video I suppose you would just have to suppress that desire."

Eli turned to Honoka. "And I think your idea is great, by the way."

"I think it's great too!" Rin exclaimed. "But I wanna be the one driving the car that hits Nico!"

"Omigosh, that's a great idea," Maki blurted aloud. "Make sure to smush her guts nicely, Rin."

"Will do!"

Honoka enthusiastically took notes. "This is gonna be a great music video!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: There's really no excuse for the amount of time it took me to write this chapter.**

 **So I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't updated in about 3 months and continue producing chapters again like nothing happened^^**


	26. Chapter 26

_Ayase Eli,_ _2:14 PM_

 **Here's the demo of the song Maki, Umi and I worked on:** demo-new-song

 **Sung by Maki and I.**

 **We haven't finished the line distributions yet.**

 **Stay tuned, peeps.**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 2:16 PM_

 **Ooh, this is lit**

 _Yazawa Nico, 3.02 PM_

 **Dibs on lines 0.00-3.32**

 _Nishikino Maki, 6.31 PM_

 **Nico, that's the whole song**

 _Hoshizora Rin, 6.31 PM_

 **WOW! I liek this song!**

 _Sonoda Umi, 7.02 PM_

 ***like**

 **What do you guys think about the song?**

 _Koizumi Hanayo, 7.03 PM_

 **I like it, Umi, but who can hit the high notes?**

 **Also, Rin, I can hear you yelling at customers from here. Pls stop.**

 _Hoshizora Rin, 7.04 PM_

 **I'm not yelling! Just being cheerful!**

 _Minami Kotori, 7.04 PM_

 **I love this song!**

 **Maki, Umi, Eli, you guys have really outdone yourselves this time!**

 _Koizumi Hanayo, 7.05 PM_

 **Kotori, who do you think can hit the high notes?**

 _Minami Kotori, 7.05 PM_

 **Umm didn't Eli hit them in the demo?**

 **Maybe she'll do it again?**

 _Koizumi Hanayo_ _, 7.06 PM_

 **Oh yeaa**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.05 PM_

 **Technically, Eli is the only one who can hit the high notes well. So obviously she'll do it.**

 _Ayase Eli, 9.05 PM_

 **Maki, I think you can hit the notes as well if you try.**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.06 PM_

 **Well, I don't want to try.**

 _Sonoda Umi, 9.21 PM_

 **Kotori, I need to meet with you about the costumes for the MV**

 _Minami Kotori, 9.21 PM_

 **Sure! Oh, and speaking of the MV, have you started working on it?**

 _Ayase Eli, 9.22 PM_

 **Yes, I started making a storyboard last night with Maki and Umi.**

Tojo Nozomi, 9.22 PM

 **Wow, so the only people who have been working on this is Eli, Umi and Maki?**

 _Hoshizora Rin, 9.23 PM_

 **That's not fair! I wanma help too!**

 _Yazawa Nico, 9.23 PM_

 **YEA! I NEED TO HAVE A PART TOO!**

 _Sonoda Umi, 9.24 PM_

 **Alright, alright, since you guys want to help, I'll make a list of what everyone can do.**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.24 PM_

 **Good**

 **We shouldn't exclude anyone.**

 _Yazawa Nico, 9.25 PM_

 **Wow, that's the nicest thing Nozomi said in YEARS**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.25 PM_

 **I doubt it. But yea, that was kinda unexpected.**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.26 PM_

 **Oh, you want me to be mean?**

 **Sure.**

 **Nico, when we were in high school, your pigtails always made you look like you were 5.**

 **Maki, you always seemed like a 40-year-old woman in a 15-year-old body. Oh, and your Gucci underwear didn't help either.**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.26 PM_

 **How did you know the brand of my underwear?**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.26 PM_

 **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.26 PM_

 **...**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.26 PM_

 **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 _Sonoda Umi, 9.27 PM_

 **Umi: MV Storyboard, Costume Planning, Manage other members, Manage Publicity, Find Sponsors**

 **Eli: MV Storyboard, Costume Planning, Song Line Distribution, Finalize Song Details**

 **Maki: MV Storyboard, Finalize Song Details, Song Line Distribution, Find practice spaces**

 **Kotori: Costume Planning, Costume Design, Costume making, Makeup for MV**

 **Nozomi: Re-setup Youtube Channel,** **Find Sponsors**

 **Hanayo: Find Sponsors**

 **Nico: Setup official accounts on social media**

 **Honoka: Moral Support**

 **Rin: Moral Support**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.27 PM_

 **Wow you actually put effort into typing this**

 **Omg moral support**

 **I support ;)**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.27 PM_

 **Moral support?**

 **Tbh, those two can't even do that much.**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.28 PM_

 **OOHHH SAVAGE MAKI**

 _Sonoda Umi, 9.28 PM_

 **I'm glad you guys agree with my choices.**

 _Hoshizora Rin_ _, 9.28 PM_

 **Yay! I get to be moral support!**

 **waitttt**

 **Um...whats moral support?**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.29 PM_

 **It is your job.**

 _Hoshizora Rin_ _, 9.28 PM_

 **Oh! ok!**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.28 PM_

 **Wth Maki?**

 **How did she understand?**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.29 PM_

 **I was in Rin's class for 3 years.**

 **I practically speak Rin.**

 _Hoshizora Rin_ _, 9.30 PM_

 **yay! I'm a language now!**

 _Tojo Nozomi, 9.30 PM_

 **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Ok then**

 _Sonoda Umi, 9.31 PM_

 **Speaking of foolish humans...where is Honoka?**

 **She hasn't said anything all day.**

 _Ayase Eli, 9_ _:31 PM_

 **She's sleeping, remember?**

 _Nishikino Maki, 9.31 PM_

 **Oh yes, you said she hibernates on Sundays.**

 _Ayase Eli, 9_ _:32 PM_

 ** _Ah...yes._**

 _Ayase Eli, 12_ _:49 AM_

 **Oh, yea everyone this is important.**

 **The line distributions will be done within 5 days.**

 **We will finish the MV storyboard in a week.**

 **And the costumes will be done in 2 weeks.**

 **Make sure you are free on Sunday, November 10th**

 **We will be recording on that day, in Maki's home**

 **Also, make sure you are free on November 24th because we will be filming the MV on that day.**

 **Take care, guys.**


	27. Chapter 27

Kotori carried the last box of clothes into Maki's piano room (which sort of became the headquarters of μ's).

"Good work everyone!" Eli called from her seat in front of the desk computer. "Now all we have to do is record the MV!"

"Yay!" Honoka cheered.

Rin and Hanayo burst into the room with plastic bags. "Hey, guys we brought fried chicken!"

"Oh my god yes, yes, yes. I need food," Nico chanted.

Hanayo placed the boxes of fried chicken onto the low coffee table. "Dig in, guys!"

Eli clapped her hands. "Guys! Don't forget that we'll have to go work out after eating all these calories!"

There was a chorus of groans.

Maki smiled lightly to herself. It really was like back when they were high schoolers.

* * *

"Okay, cut!" Umi called.

Honoka burst out laughing. "I look like a housewife!"

Maki shrugged. "Hey, you were the one who suggested the MV beginning with a shot of you making wagashi."

"I know, but I didn't think that I would have to wear this weird apron or put my hair up in a bun!"

Kotori frowned. "So you don't like my styling?"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

Eli checked the video on the monitor. "Hmm, I think this is fine. Let's move onto the next scene. Honoka, get ready."

"Yes, ma'am!" Honoka did a little salute and got into position on a stool with her phone.

Honoka, Umi, Eli, Kotori and Maki were working on filming the first scenes with Honoka while the rest of the girls were getting ready for their own scenes in their designated positions.

"3...2...1." Umi hit the button on the camera.

Honoka pretended to press a few buttons on her phone and place it next to her ear. "Hello, Kotori!"

"Cut!" Eli clapped her hands. "Honoka you are acting too innocent! Remember our concept? We are supposed to be grown up now! Again!"

Maki sighed. It was going to be a long day...

* * *

After filming everyone's individual scenes, it was time for Nico's car crash scene. Maki had brought out one of her family's trucks into the driveway of her house.

"Rin, you know how to drive, right?" Maki asked hesitantly.

"Of course! I have a driver's license!" Rin pouted.

"Okay, good, good great." Maki directed Rin to the truck. "Why don't you try testing out the truck for a bit? Get used to it."

Rin nodded and started jogging towards the truck.

Maki shifted her focus to Nico, who was getting her make-up touched up by Kotori. "Nico, you know what you have to do right?"

Nico rolled her eyes and sassily replied, "Walk across the street and pretend to get hit by a truck and almost die, right?"

"Uh...yes."

Kotori finished dusting Nico's face with powder. "Okay! You're ready!"

Nico grabbed the colourful shopping bags and waited by the side of the street.

"Rin, are you ready?" Maki called.

Rin nodded. "I think I got this!.

"Don't actually squash me," Nico emphasized with a pout.

Rin laughed hysterically.

"I hope we won't have to hide Nico's body tonight," Eli muttered.

"3...2...1...go!" Umi shouted from behind the camera.

Nico began to strut across the street with her shopping bags while the truck steadily approached. When it starts to gets close to her, Nico fakes a surprised expression at the camera and lets out a little shriek.

"And...cut!"

Rin didn't stop the truck.

She kept driving, and soon the shrieking became genuine.

"Rin! I said cut!" Umi cried.

"Oh god," Maki murmured under her breath.

Rin finally stopped the truck, about what looked like a centimetre away from Nico's back. "HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"RIN! It's not funny! You could've killed me!" Nico whined, still looking a bit pale.

Maki chuckled. "Good one, Rin! If only you actually killed her."

"MAKI!"

Eli sighed and crossed her arms. "Rin. That was not okay. Nico could have seriously gotten hurt."

"Oh...sorry Nico," Rin said without even the smallest hint of guilt.

"Hmph!"

Umi clapped sharply. "Okay! That's enough. We have to move on to the next scene."

Kotori gestured to the stool in front of her. "Nico, sit down! We need to redo your makeup."

"In the meantime, I want to film the scene again with just Rin so that we can zoom into her face," Umi said, getting to work with the camera immediately.

"Good idea," Eli added.

Nico strutted over to Kotori while Rin began to back the truck again.

Maki sighed to herself.

It was going to be a very long day.

* * *

After some massive difficulties with filming the surgery scene due to Nico's constant giggling and snide comments, Eli and Umi finally called the day over.

Nico had immediately retreated to the bathroom to wash off all the fake blood and makeup while Hanayo brought in even more food (pizza this time!) so everyone just hung around in Maki's piano room eating.

"You, know," Honoka started abruptly with a slice of pizza in her hand. "What if we just stayed the night?"

Everyone whooped and cheered.

"Well...Maki?" Eli turned to Maki expectantly. "What do you think?"

Maki shrugged. "Fine."

Everyone cheered again.

"Just don't be too loud," Maki added quickly.

"That's perfect! Now we can pull an all-nighter editing the video together!" Umi said to Eli who nodded.

"But what about pyjamas?" Hanayo wondered out loud.

"Well, about that," Kotori says with a small smile as she began rummaging through one of the boxes of costumes. "I kinda thought something like this would happen so I prepared nightgowns for everyone!" Kotori held up a beautifully made nightgown to show as proof.

Everyone cheered even _more._

"Speaking of tonight," Maki said. "I'll go get sleeping bags so that you guys can sleep together in this room."

"You're not sleeping with us?" Honoka asked with a shocked look on her face.

"Huh? Uh-I mean- I already have my bedroom." Upon Honoka's heartbroken expression, Maki quickly added, "But well, you know, I can still join you guys. Not because I want to or anything, but you guys probably won't let me sleep in my own room any-"

"Maki," Nozomi cut in. "Don't go tsundere on us now."

Everyone giggled.

 _Huh_ , Maki thought. _I thought I wasn't tsundere anymore._

* * *

That night, somehow, Honoka ended getting hold of alcohol again.

Except this time, it was expensive French champagne.

Some people, like Eli, Umi and Nozomi were drinking responsibly at tables while editing the video like mature adults.

Or even Hanayo, who decided to avoid alcohol entirely and listen to music while drawing quietly in a corner.

Other people weren't so composed.

"MAKI! MAKI! THIS CHAMPAGNE IS GOOD! IT'S BETTER THAN ANY BEER I HAVE EVER HAD!" Honoka yelled while the glass of champagne in her hand wobbled dangerously.

"Yea! Even better than the sake I drink!" Rin adds.

"Maki! You're rich! I think you should sponsor MY youtube channel so that I can vlog a trip to Paris or London!" Nico's champagne glass almost tipped over as she spoke.

This was going to end badly and Maki knew it.

Well. At least save the expensive champagne and the glasses.

Wordlessly, Maki grabbed the glasses of champagne from Honoka, Rin and Nico, and handed them a can of beer each instead. Then, Maki walked out the door to put away the glasses.

When she came back, the drunk trio didn't even notice a thing.

Maki smiled.

"Oh hey, Maki! Come join us, we're playing a secret game." Honoka wiggled her eyebrows mysteriously.

"How's editing going?" Maki asked Eli.

"HEY! Don't ignore us!" Nico whined.

"Great actually, I think we can finish this by morning," Eli replied.

"MAKI! COME PLAY WITH US!" Rin wailed.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Maki asked Eli.

"MAKI! COME QUICK! I'M GETTING IMPATIENT!" Honoka screamed.

"We're doing pretty okay over here but it'll be great if you could go entertain the drunk people in the corner there." Nozomi chuckles dryly. "It's getting a bit _noisy_ don't you think?"

Maki takes a deep breath. "Alright, then."

When Honoka noticed Maki approaching, she scooted over and patted the ground next to her. "Yay! Sit down, Maki!"

"So, what game are you guys playing?" Maki forced herself to say.

"It's easy! We play rock paper scissors, and whoever loses chugs!" Rin explained while beer dripped down from her chin ungracefully.

Maki frowned. "Okay then."

"Go get your beer, Maki!" Honoka prompted.

Reluctantly, Maki poured herself a glass of champagne and sat back down.

"Let's start!" Honoka, who did not notice that Maki had champagne, not beer, exclaimed. "Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

Rin, Honoka and Nico all chose rock, but Maki chose paper.

"Aw! Maki lucky!" Rin wailed and chugged her beer.

Nico pouted and chugged.

Honoka just chugged. "Again! Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

Once more, Maki chose paper and everyone chose rock.

 _Oh,_ Maki sighed in relief. _Seems like I won't have to get drunk today._

The game repeated a few more times with Maki not touching her drink while the other 3 got increasingly drunker.

Then abruptly, it happened.

Maki chose paper as per usual, but everyone else chose scissors.

"Huh?" Maki frowned in confusion.

"Maki, you chug!" Nico demanded. "Now!"

Hesitantly, Maki took a small sip of her champagne. _Maybe I should not choose paper next time._

"Again! Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

Maki stared, speechless at the result of the game.

Somehow, everyone chose rock again, but Maki chose scissors.

Honoka giggled. "Maki, you have to chug again!"

Maki took a small sip.

"Again! Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

Rin laughed boisterously. "Maki! You chug, AGAIN!"

Maki took another sip. _Not good. I'm already becoming tipsy._

Maki, for all her wealth, cannot handle her liquor at all.

A couple sips later and Maki decided to stop before she got completely drunk like last time. Maki stood up. "Hey guys, it's starting to get late we should go to sleep."

"What? It's not late, it's only 11 pm!" Nico whined.

"Well, at least you guys should stop drinking before you regret it tomorrow." Maki walked out of the room to put away her glass.

When she came back, Nico, Honoka and Rin were passed out on top of each other.

 _Only 11 pm, huh?_

As Maki watched the three sleep, an idea began blossoming in her head. _These three give me so much crap, what if I take some revenge?_

"Eli," Maki started suddenly. "Do I have your permission to post a picture on our official Instagram account?"

Eli shrugged. "Sure."

"What are you up to?" Nozomi asked.

"Nothing, just a selfie." Maki held her phone up to take a selfie, making sure that _everyone_ was in the frame.

Nozomi held up a cute little V sign and Eli and Umi just smiled for the photo while Hanayo was still sketching in her corner and paid no mind to the photo.

"Perfect." Maki quickly opened up her Instagram app and chose the photo from her gallery. Maki made sure to tag Nico's account and caption it with a single sleeping emoji.

Nozomi laughed when she opened the picture on her phone.

"What? What did she post?" Umi asked, turning her head to try to look at Nozomi's phone.

"A selfie of us in this room with the drunks passed out on the floor," Nozomi replied with a grin.

Needless to say, Nico will have a lovely surprise in the morning.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Next chapter will definitely be the last chapter so stay tuned!**

 **Also, serious thanks to anyone who is still reading this story. I know that updates have been consistently inconsistent and I promise to upload the last chapter sometime before February 4th (It will take some time because it is the last chapter).**

 **As always, thanks for reading and please review!**


	28. Chapter 28

_Snip._

 _Snip._

 _Snip._

"There you go!" The hairdresser exclaimed.

"You look good," Eli remarked.

Maki watched her reflection in the mirror staring back at her. The long dull locks had been chopped off and now her hair barely touched her shoulders, the new look eerily resembling her old high school self.

Maki couldn't help noticing how much younger, vibrant she looks now.

"What do you think?" Kotori asked-it had been her idea to give Maki a haircut.

"It's definitely a new look," Maki stated and smiled at her reflection. "I like it."

Eli clapped. "Well, that's good because we have a long day ahead and now we have to go to some interviews. Let's get moving."

* * *

The interviewer was very sweet, not prying or demanding at all.

She had decided to interview the members in threes, accordingly to their subunits.

"So, Miss Honoka, where you the one who decided to reform μ's?"

Honoka smiled a little cheeky grin and pointed to herself. "It was me! We thought it would be cool to restart μ's with a cooler, more mature concept!"

Maki suppressed a sigh from behind the cameraman. _Mature, you say, but you still act like a high schooler._

The interviewer nodded. "And who was in charge of songwriting again?"

"This time, Maki, Umi and Eli wrote the song," Hanayo said.

"I see... so when will the music video be released again?"

"Next week, December 12th," Kotori replied.

...

After droning out the rest of the interview, it was Maki's turn to be interviewed with Eli and Nico.

"So, Miss Eli, how did you come up with the song concept and theme?"

Eli smiled. "Well, we actually took a look at other idol group's work to see how idol music has evolved over the years we have been gone. And then we started putting our own spin to it."

"And who made the choreography?"

"Kotori did," Eli answered smoothly.

"And I helped too," Nico added.

"I see, and I'm sure everyone is wondering, why did you guys decide to become idols again?"

"I loved being a youtuber but as time went on, there weren't enough interesting things in my life that could make my vlogs more entertaining," Nico started and Maki made an internal fist pump because Nico finally realized that her vlogs were very boring.

"So when Honoka mentioned that she wanted to reform μ's, I was one of the first to agree."

"And Miss Eli?"

"Well, and I think this applies to most of us," Eli stole a quick glance at Maki. "I just felt like I wasn't satisfied with my life and that no job could replace being able to sing and dance with my friends for a living."

The interview turned to Maki. "And you, Miss Maki?"

"My friends forced me to join," Maki blurted.

"WHAT?" Honoka yelled from behind the camera.

The interviewer chuckled gently. "Do we have to cut that out?"

"No, no-it's fine!" Maki panicked. "Well-what I meant to say was that being a surgeon was stressful and maybe I like being an idol more!"

Maki gasped at herself and looked at the floor in embarrassment, unaware of Eli and Nico exchanging sneaky looks.

The interviewer cleared her throat. "Well, that brings us to the end of our interview. Before we end this segment, do you have any last things to say about your upcoming comeback?"

"We worked very hard for this so we hope you enjoy it, and as always thank you for your support!" Eli exclaimed, reciting her rehearsed lines.

* * *

The girls have gathered in Maki's piano room again, waiting to release the MV at 6pm, their designated time.

"5 more minutes until 6!" Eli called.

"I brought cheesecake to celebrate!" Hanayo declared as she entered the room with a big white box.

"Omigosh! Can we eat it now?" Rin squealed as she scurried over to admire the cheesecake.

"No, Rin, we have to release the MV first," Eli said.

"Maki, have you seen the memes people made about you in that interview?" Nozomi asked Maki suddenly.

"No, I haven't been checking social media much lately," Maki replied.

Nozomi handed Maki her phone.

"What- oh my god."

The lock screen wallpaper of Nozomi's phone was a meme of Maki blushing in the interview with the caption- _9 years later, still tsundere._

Maki glared at Nozomi. "Why?"

Nozomi shrugged. "I don't know, Maki. Ask yourself why you're tsundere."

"I really don't know. I thought college drained the tsundere out of me," Maki muttered.

"Aww, Maki do you have an identity crisis?" Nozomi asked jokingly.

Maki rolled her eyes. _Probably._

"30 seconds, guys!" Umi cried from her position in front of the computer.

Everyone began crowding around Umi and Maki followed suit.

"27..." Umi began counting, others joining in.

"26..."

"25..."

In a few breaths, they were down to less than 10. Maki clenched her fist and joined in counting.

"7!"

"6!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

The clock flashed 6 pm and Umi hit upload.

Maki watched in anticipation as the video loaded and then the screen flashed with a text message that said that the video was successfully published on Youtube.

Everyone whooped and cheered.

"CAKE!" Rin yelled.

"Yes! We did it!" Kotori cried emotionally as she hugged Eli and Umi.

 _They probably did the most work_ , Maki thought as she joined in the hug.

"Good job everyone!" Eli called. "Now it's time to celebrate!"

Hanayo began slicing up generous helpings of fluffy souffle cheesecake and Umi passed them out.

"Oh my god, so good!" Nico, who for once was not vlogging, said as she took giant bites of the cheesecake.

"I didn't have time to bake a cheesecake so this one is store-bought," Hanayo explained apologetically.

"I don't care. It's cheesecake. It's good," Honoka interjected.

"Yup!" Rin said as she bit into her slice of cheesecake directly.

* * *

"This is it, okay? The real deal," Eli started, like a true motivational speaker. "We practised the choreography, we know the song, and now it is time for us to perform."

"Psh, cut the crap Eli, we're practically professionals now," Nico remarked. "And we're older now."

"Nico, why do you always ruin the moment?" Maki sighed.

"Well, I'm sorry-"

"Be quiet, Nico," Eli said sharply. "Everybody get into position, let's do this."

They filed into the stage and stood in position to loud cheers-Maki thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

But it did not, and before Maki had any time to organize her thoughts, the music started.

The first verse, sung by Hanayo, Rin and Nico went by without incident and Maki felt so out of breath as she was dancing she wasn't even sure if she had even power left to sing. But she did and nothing was more satisfying than letting her voice ring out through the entire concert hall.

It was the same feeling that Maki had had 9 years ago, the same adrenaline pumping through her veins as she danced and sang and did what she loved.

* * *

"I can't believe we did it! We debuted! We're idols again!" Nico squealed.

"Good job, everyone!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Yay! Is there any more cake?" Rin asked.

"No, Rin, we have to watch our weights now that we're idols again," Eli chided.

Rin pouts and crossed her arms while sitting on the light mattress that Maki had brought in for the "sleepover".

"WOOOOOOOO! BRING OUT THE BEER NOW BECAUSE WE DESERVE A CELEBRATION!" Honoka screamed.

"Not so fast, Honoka," Eli warned. "Because we're idols now, we have to drink responsibly. You have to be careful about your public image."

"Who cares? We're in the privacy of Maki's piano room-"

"We also have to promote our album more tomorrow, you can't get a hangover now."

Honoka groaned.

"We should probably go to bed soon," Umi said. "Tomorrow we wake up at 7 for a photo shoot!"

"I don't know whether to be sad or happy at that but whatever," Nico muttered as she slid into her bed.

Maki chuckled from her position under the blankets.

"Okay, we're turning off the lights now. Good night, everyone," Eli called and the room went dark.

Maki smiled slightly to herself.

 _Perhaps this idol thing might not be a bad idea after all._

 _The point of life is to be happy, no?_

 _I can't force myself to be something I'm not._

Hair grows, people change.

But hair can always be cut.

And people never really change, do they?

* * *

 **Author's Note: My god, this story wasn't supposed to take this long to end at all.**

 **To be completely honest, when I wrote the first chapter, I really had no idea what I was doing. And I was planning to take down the story shortly after posting it, but when I saw people actually reading it, I felt motivated to continue writing and create a story out of whatever gibberish the first chapter was. So I loosely created a storyline in my head but as you probably have realized by now, I was mostly making up the story as I was writing. And it didn't help that I didn't really know how to write that well when I first started (not that I know how to write well now). I wasn't planning the story to go on for over a year at all, but well, look how that turned out.** **I sincerely apologize to anyone who is still reading this story for the late updates. I really had no idea what I was doing. And I'm still not satisfied with how my story ended but everything is a learning experience, I guess.**

 **Thank you for reading my story to the end, I really hope you enjoyed the ride, and as always please review!**


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